Happy 4th!

Before I begin this post about our wonderful 3 day weekend, I wanted to announce that my mom's brother, Uncle Ralph, passed away around 4pm pacific time on July 4th. He was an Army Veteran. Uncle Ralph (also known as Lenny) was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer 6 weeks ago and had been told he had less than 6 months to live. He was in a lot of pain and has been released of that and is back home awaiting for the rest of us :)

This weekend has been wonderful! With the exception of Addilyn having a hard time getting rid of gas, it was great! Scott of course had the 4th off. Here are some pictures (like always) from our weekend.

 Addilyn being adorable as always.

 She likes to watch her dad play Angry Birds.

 On our walk behind our complex into Bethabara Park. I had to get one with Cabo, he was anxious to keep going!

 We live in a crazy rainforest jungle!!

 So beautiful, a little stinky, but beautiful.

 After our walk/hike. We were sweating so bad because it was sooo humid that day.

(Above) Addi's cheeks overflowing.
(Below) We went to Old Salem for a Moravian service that read the Declaration of Independence. Old Salem is like Nauvoo, Illinois for those of you who have been there. However, instead of all the homes and houses being museums, they are still in use. The homes are still lived in, the original bakery is a working bakery, etc. This is the home of the first and oldest women's college in the nation. And it is still in use for the school.

 The prelude music. They played played all folk American songs.

 The pulpit that they read the Declaration from.

 The church behind the band is the original Moravian church here. The Moravians here in Winston-Salem were originally German. "On January 10, 1783, a Preliminary Treaty of Peace was signed at Paris, which virtually terminated the war. This good news was officially announced to the North Carolina Assembly by Governor Alexander Martin on April 19th, and before the Assembly adjourned it instructed the Governor to appoint July 4th as a day of public thanksgiving. North Carolina was the only state that anticipated the national day of thanksgiving by celebrating the Fourth of July, and so far as it is known, the Moravians were the only group within the state to obey the Proclamation of Governor Martin." (Records of the Moravians in NC- Volume IV by Dr. Adelaide L. Fries)

 Me and Addilyn standing by the college.

 And of course, in front of the college.

 We then walked around Old Salem before any festivities began. Since half of the place is a campus, there were some modern things outside.  But the buildings are all original and beautiful.

 There was some cool recycled art work all around. It was so fun to find them in their inconspicuous places.

 Notice her hand coming out :)

Probably the coolest thing we saw yesterday was this. Old Salem hosted a special Naturalization Ceremony for the first time. The color guard was obviously dressed in colonial garb in celebration of the 4th.

 (Below) It's hard to see because there are so many people. But in the middle is where 110 people are raising their right hand and pledging their Oath of Allegiance. They were originally born in 40 different countries (if you saw my facebook post, I was wrong and it is 40). It was so neat to witness it along with their families and friends, especially on the day we celebrate our Independence. There were also tons of news cameras and it was on the news that night. Sadly we did not see ourselves.

So on our 4th of July, not only were we in one of the original 13 colonies to celebrate, but also the first city to celebrate it. Not to mention we celebrated it with the newest citizens of our country!

We left Old Salem for home. It was 94 degrees when we got home, and online it said it felt like 104, which it did. We decided to go swimming (no pictures) and then give Addi a bath. What a cutie.

Did I mention that she was 2 months yesterday?! When I made her doctor's appointment for her 2 month check up, the receptionist said that they base it off of the calendar month, not by weeks. (So there dad!) She will be going in next week.

Her only Mariner outfit given by her Grandpa Jadwin. It's still really long on her, but she will get lots of wear into it before she grows into the Yankee outfits her Nana got her- which I'm still debating to put her in...:)

Then last night before she went to bed, Dad was watching cartoons on his phone for her bed time story. She absolutely loved it. I'm not too sure about that kind of bedtime story...