It's been a busy time since summer vacation began last month. We went to Disneyland :!: but that's another post, I'm still filtering through the photos.  :P

So, 4th of July came and went and we weren't really in a grilling mood. It was 103° on the 4th itself but reached 112° only a couple days earlier! =O We opted for a cold cut sub-sandwich and real macaroni and cheese instead. I think my favorite part of making the sub this time was that we followed an Alton Brown tip in putting flat weights on top while it melded for the next couple of hours wrapped in plastic wrap. It flattened together nicely, making it much easier to bite into, I thought. We also mashed up some fresh strawberries to go in our lemonade for a fun drink.

My friend Yukino brought over a cherry pie she'd made from scratch. Pitted the cherries n' everything! Best. Cherry. Pie. I. Ever. Had. I usually like apple pie when it comes to fruit pies and cherry pie has always been 'okay' in my book. I'm not a huge fan of the overly sweet, red dyed cherry filling. This one tasted like cherry and not pure omg sugar lol. Crust came out awesome too, Yukino! It was soft and flakey and paired very well with the cherries.

My mom sent a box filled with some 4th of July goodies, which arrived the day before. Red, white, and blue Peeps, glasses to make the fireworks look 3-D, and different kinds of glow sticks to wear. =) I bought some sparklers, those little pops that you throw on the ground, and a couple bigger fireworks. We walked (the boys got to drive in their truck) towards an empty cul de sack by the railroad tracks and park. Other people had the same idea. We watched tons of fireworks go off for over 2 hours. They shot off lots of really, really big ones too! Which was cool! It was neat because we have a pretty nice view of the strip from there, and could see the fireworks going off in the background too. Jude decided he was done and wanted to go home. Turned out to be the right time, as it started raining 5 minutes after we got back. Didn't stop other people from setting off fireworks until 2 in the morning, however.  ^_^;

Yeah, so that pie is totally gone now 4 days later. I'm not to blame at all of course.  :whistle: Phones got upgraded, and I got a new cute case that I'm in love with. I pretty much love everything over at Rifle Paper Co. The gouache artwork on their products is so simple and whimsical. (At least I think it's gouache?)  It's been raining off an on, been getting those flash flood warnings. The clouds are really pretty outside  though. :heart: I've been sewing a lot of things for my boys, and painting. Plus, working on other fun things for you guys. ;)

 Always,