July 3rd

We had the opportunity to go to a picnic hosted by a family we know.  It was great fun with excellent historical readings and recitations of famous speeches and quotes of the founding fathers.  There were also performances by several different families, including ours.  We sang "America the Beautiful" in 3-part harmony.  (Yes, we still need a bass.  If Paul doesn't grow up to be a bass, one of us girls will have to marry one, I guess.)  There was a brother and sister who played together: the brother played piano and the girl played violin.  Then she sat on the piano bench and held her violin, handing the bow to her brother.  He reached over her shoulder with the bow in his right hand and played the piano with his left hand.  She fingered the violin with her left hand and played the piano with her right hand.  In this way, they played "Bile 'em Cabbage Down" also known as "Boil the Cabbage."  It was hilarious!

 

There was a fabulous game of soccer, in which, even completely inexperienced players like Aimee, Paul, and I had moments of glory.  See pictures: Aimee and Paul were on one team, and I was on the other team... my team lost.  (The score was 5 to 1!)  But it was great fun nonetheless. ;)  There was also tug-of-war; a men's game and a ladies' game.  Almost all the girls and several of the younger mothers participated.  The little kids had a flag relay race... it was so cute!  The 'coolest' game was either the water-balloon toss, or the bombardment of Fort McHenry (or Fort Sumpter... there was some confusion about which fort it was.)  Using a pair of three-man-slingshots, a huge crowd of kids (and adults, actually) launched water balloons at the cardboard forts, trying to get the defenders wet.  Then the defenders would return fire (water, actually), and the attackers would have to finally run forward and storm the place.

 

We shared a potluck dinner and delicious grilled hotdogs and hamburgers.  When a police officer and the fire marshal showed up, some of the little girls wondered who was in trouble, but they were really just there to inspect the fireworks permit before the show. ;)  At dark, everyone set up chairs at one edge of the field and watched the excellent fireworks this family had choreographed.  They played a recording of "The Star-Spangled Banner," and it was really moving the way the fireworks lined up with the music.  (And just a side note: gotta' love these groups of 'weird' homeschoolers; they're a gentlemanly bunch.  A boy gave me his chair and stood during the fireworks so I wouldn't have to!)

 

One of the day's highlights was re-meeting a family we had previously met in AZ!  When we arrived, a little after the picnic had already started, Mr. D was up front sharing something and thought to myself, "Wow!  He looks really familiar... I feel like I've seen him somewhere before!"  Then I told myself I was crazy, but as it turns out, I wasn't because we actually had met them about 5 years ago in AZ!  It's a small world, I guess.  The other highlight, for me, was meeting Rachael, a young mother.  She's a second-generation homeschooler, and seems to be pretty like-minded.  She was so sweet and was very happy to share her courtship story with us girls, also giving good advice.  That was a real blessing!

 

I didn't get to bed that night until about 1 am, but that was a wonderful picnic... rather reminiscent of times at HBC.