Summer in the Neighborhood

The biggest critique I hear about Hidden Springs, from those that don't live here, is that it is too much like "The Truman Show" (the Jim Carrey movie), that the people that live here are  Stepford Wives (Ummmm... not sure anyone would describe me in that manner!) or that it is like Desperate Housewives (if this is the case I definitely am out of the loop on all the drama going on behind the scenes!). None of these is really very accurate in my mind. In fact, probably the best way to describe our neighborhood is as a modern day Mayberry. Still not everyone's cup of tea, but also not nearly as sinister as the other comparisons.  In any case, we love our little Mayberry and one of the things we like most is the community events. In the last two weeks we have had three great events.

The first was a concert on the green in mid-June. Great music, great friends, and perfect weather. Tanner and Faith rode their scooters in little "pre school and kindergarten gangs" around the Merc and through the closed parking lot for hours and I only had to check on them every once in awhile to be sure all was well. They knew where I was sitting and came and got me as needed. Lots of neighbors gathered with umbrellas and picnics and drinks and we hung out until way past bedtime.

The next week was the Annual Camp Out. Again, lots of neighbors and friends joined in the fun. We set up our giant tent and the boys each invited a friend to join us for the sleepover. There were s'mores and a campfire, a movie on the big screen outside at dusk (10PM here!), and a pancake breakfast the next morning. The kids all stayed up playing with their friends in the dark, playing light stick tag and light stick baseball until midnight and then sacked out until 7AM the next morning. 

We all slept amazingly well, but the fact that the kids only got 7 hours of sleep instead of their usual 10-12 was definitely felt the next day (actually it was felt for the following 3 days) which was nothing short of a nightmare. They were all overtired, hyper, and misbehaving. I think we are finally caught up on sleep now, despite being out until almost midnight again last night for the 4th of July.

Speaking of the 4th... Again, we didn't have to go far to enjoy the festivities. The kids and I watched the parade at 11AM from the front porch of a friend of ours on Hidden Springs Drive. They collected candy that was thrown from the people in the parade and used their water guns to soak the participants. We headed to the end of the parade route and joined in the party on the South Meadow Green (nearer to our new home) and stayed until almost 3PM. There was more music, BBQ, drinks, a bouncy water slide, and lots of friends.  

Having learned our lesson (see "lack of sleep" in paragraph 3 above) we required all the kids to nap from 3-5 because we were headed to the Hawks game and fireworks at 730. Only Faith slept but the boys rested and after an impromptu BBQ dinner of hamburgers, fruit salad, and corn on the cob (how patriotic!) with Sheila and Wayne we headed to our first Hawks game of the season. The weather couldn't have been better. Not too hot, a nice breeze blowing. It was a really fun night. The Hawks lost, but the kids loved the game, being there with Sheila and Wayne, and of course the fireworks display afterwards. Just like last year we sat very close to where they were being set off and got to witness several fire balls that nearly singed our eyebrows. Faith wasn't so pleased with that part of the night but the boys thought it was "awesome". Tanner did remark after the fireworks ended, however, that he "liked watching fireworks but he wouldn't want to have a job where he would have to set them off". Smart boy. So we had  a 4th of July that involved friends, family, fireworks, baseball, community BBQ, watermelon, and music. I'm not sure we could be more of a cliche but it was a great day!