fourth of july!

july fourth fell on a thursday this year, and both alex and i took friday off, so we ended up having a four day family weekend extravaganza!  the fourth itself was super fun - we went out to long island and hung out with both sides of the family.

bubble cousins!

as the fireworks started, alex decided we should check on our zipcar and extend it, and i found out that we couldn't.  whoops!  we made a very hurried exit, and got to see the fireworks from the car; which was actually much more pleasant than watching from the party as it turns out.
friday, penny had camp, and we got to pick her up for the first time!  it was so much fun walking back with her and chatting about her camp day.  she's making friends, i think; we get so little information about what happens there that it's hard for me to be 100% sure.
on saturday, penny threw on a bathing suit, and we headed to the sprinklers!

she had fun backing her tush into the water and getting sprinkled from behind, but she also enjoyed running through the spray and getting soaked.  we all took an epic nap, and layed low for the evening.
on sunday, we had a bagel breakfast, then headed into the city to the museum of natural history.  there seems to be air conditioning on the upper floors now, which is amazing!  we actually got to enjoy the dinosaurs, and saw a frog exhibit that was really great.  we ate our lunch, looked around at even more of the museum, and headed out with none of us being cranky at all - our most successful museum trip ever!  penny wanted to head to the central park zoo, so we started to wander in that direction.  even after taking a rest in the shade, we were hot, sweaty, and crabby, so we took an unplanned detour - to FAO Schwartz :)
we had beverages in the candy store, then ran into a sketch buddy of alex's who took us on an informal tour of the store, and skipped alex & penny to the head of the big piano line!

after feeling refreshed, there was just enough time for a whirlwind tour of the central park zoo, then home.  my legs stopped functioning soon after.
penny has been charming and helpful and funny.  she's quite a kid.  it's pretty great to come home and find stuff like this: