Twenty Four Hours of Crazy Comes to an End....

The dishes have all been cleaned, the trash has all been put in to trash bags, the left over food has been properly stored, and the family have all gotten in to their numerous vehicles and headed on home.

That's it.

It's all over.

Our 24 hour Independence Day Extravaganza has come to an end... and it was a great success!

My family all arrived around 1PM and unloaded their luggage that made me wonder if they were moving in rather than just spending one night.  Two vehicles full of people and stuff... can be a little overwhelming.  But, once everything was unloaded and things settled down a little - everything was A-OK.

The kids couldn't wait more than a couple of minutes to get in their bathing suits and jump in the pool.  Thanks to the unseasonably low temperatures we've been having, the water was a little cooler than they'd expected.  But, you'd never have known that from the hours and hours and hours they spent in there.

Breaking only for food, the kids stayed in the pool until 8:30PM when we finally had to drag them out to go and watch fireworks.

Thankfully, we live close enough to the park that we didn't actually have to wade through the crowds to go down and watch the fireworks.  The kids did... with the supervision of my brother and sister.  But, my parents, Hubby, and I planted ourselves on the curb across the street and watched the entire show from a few footsteps from our front yard.

Day by day there are more and more perks that reveal themselves with this house.

Once fireworks were over, and the kids had made their way back from the park, it was 10:30.  Perfect time to start rallying the kids inside to go to bed.

We pulled out all the extra beds and air mattresses and started laying bodies where we could fit them.  By the time the night was over there were four in Jelly's room., two in Butter's room, three in Peanut's room, one on the couch in the dining room, and two on the floor of the office.  Hubby and I stayed in our room...with no extra bodies except for our very scared and confused cat.  She's kinda like Hubby and doesn't do well with lots of people.

Once the kids were nestled safe in their beds, the adults all stayed up talking, laughing, and arguing until almost 2AM.  When I say arguing... I don't mean anything bad.  Just the type of stuff family bickers over when they're having serious discussions - that aren't really serious at all.  All in good fun.

By the time we were ready to call it a night, I don't think I remember my head hitting the pillow... I was out like a light in the blink of an eye.

I remember waking up this morning and looking at the clock to see that it was slightly after 8AM.  I had planned on getting up, but apparently my body had other plans... and the next time I looked at the clock, it was 9:44.

I got up to find that mostly everyone was awake.  The kids had all eaten breakfast, my parents were making their way out of the sleeping place, and there was no chance of me enjoying a peaceful cup of coffee and blogging time.  I knew that would have to wait until everyone had cleared out.

For the next couple of hours, my parents were rounding up kids and stuff ready to head home.  They finally left around noon.

I wish I could say that today I'd be planted firmly on my couch or in the pool relaxing.  But, that's never the way.  My little nephew ended up staying with Jelly and I have to go out soon to pick up Peanut's friend who is spending the weekend with us.

Never a dull moment around this house.

I'm sure once I get home, I'll be able to relax for a while.  I need it, that's for sure.

But, for right now?  I have to go and get ready to go out.  YAY!!  (Insert sarcasm)

Have a great Friday!