4th of July (Independence Day)

Well, we had a full weekend of Independence Day activities. Independence Day, or 4th of July, is a huge summer celebration in America. In 1776, the American colonies declared independence from the British. It has been quite a neat time sharing this particular holiday with Andoni. I promised him that we would come celebrate Basque Independence Day someday.

The weekend started Saturday morning. We watched the first half of the Argentina/Germany game (we recorded the second half for later), and then walked down the street for a fourth of July parade that happens to be very close to our house. We sat along the street and cheered, waved our flags, and watched the kids pick up candy that was thrown to them. Andoni helped the little girls collect a small bag of candy. He was a good sport, despite the fact that it was hot and there was a good soccer game going on.After Andoni and I had watched the rest of the soccer game,we went over to some friend's house for a cookout. We ate hamburgers and met some new people. These friends have a girl staying with them from France. She is in the same program that Andoni is in. Turns out, she is Basque too. It's a small world.

But Andoni did not have much time to fall in love with Bianca, because I pulled him away from the party to go meet my brother, Scott. Scott has a wife, two daughters, and two of the largest dogs that live on the planet earth. His dogs are basically like small horses. Andoni seemed to enjoy the dogs. But, since my brother was hosting a birthday party for one of his daughters, we did not stay long. So Andoni and I made a quick trip to a store to pick up some things for the cabin before we went back to our friend's house.

We were only there for a couple of minutes before we went home and watched the second game (Spain vs Paraguay). While we enjoyed the game, we also got ready for another trip to the cabin. The timing was perfect - we were on the road by 4:00.

We made it to the cabin in time to quickly cook up some fajitas. And then we had Smores (or s'mores, as in "some more(s)"). Andoni had never had them before. They are a campfire must in America. While Andoni had a gluten-free version, the recipe is simple: A toasted marshmallow and a piece of chocolate between two graham crackers. mmmmmm, delicious!

Andoni LOVED it. I think the Smore has just made it's way to Basque country.

That night was very hot. It was difficult to sleep. But Andoni never complained. And while the kids were all sleeping, my uncle and his family arrived at the cabin. They did not intend to stay long, but wanted to come up for some family fun.

The next morning, we did some early fishing. Andoni caught more fish.He also played some games with some of my cousins.

But shortly after lunch, my uncle and cousins left and it was just us again. Andoni and the girls spent a lot of time together playing in the water. They took the kayak way out into the lake and Andoni teased the girls. The girls would jump off the kayak and Andoni drove the boat far away from them.

He also teased Aubrey on the dock, not letting her back on. I told the girls that they really had a real brother now, that is what brothers do! They all had fun and lots of laughter.

Due to the rain throughout the day, they also spent time playing board games. Andoni has learned Doodle Dice, Farkle and Sequence.

After a quick dinner and smores, we went 40 minutes north to a small town named Cloquet. Here we parked the car and watched fireworks together. It was a beautiful night - the perfect temperature and very few mosquitos. Monday was a beautiful day. Lots of sun. Warm. Because the 4th of July fell on a Sunday, most people took Monday off from work. The kids played in the lake most of the morning right up until lunchtime.

Andoni got to spend time with the girls and repair some of the broken relationships that he had destroyed the day before on the kayak (kidding, of course). They laughed and played. It was a great day. That is, it was a great day until Shelby decided to fall off the dock and crack her chin. It was just as we were about to leave. Just after lunch. Shelby and Quinn went down to the dock to get some of the towels. Shelby stepped wrong and hit her chin on the dock as she fell into the water. The cut on her chin was obviously in need of stiches, so Janna took Shelby and Quinn and headed to the doctor (where she ended up with 5 stitches!), while Andoni and the rest of the girls helped me (Jeff) close up the cabin. We were about a half hour behind Janna when we finally left the cabin.

Once home, Andoni was able to talk to his brother who was waiting for us to get home so that he could come over. His host family drove him over and we had a chance to catch up with Inigo. What a nice, polite young man. Inigo, while noticibly excited to see Andoni, was kind enough to engage with the Northrup family, asking lots of questions and giving many answers.

After a mexican dinner at Chipotle, we went to Aubrey's soccer game and then a frozen yogurt place called Freeziac (don't worry, gluten-free).

Well, another fun weekend. Lots of good memories. We are all looking forward to getting to know Inigo more. And we were honored to spend Independence Day with our new Basque friend.