In Which We Chase Candy and Jump off a Cliff

I was reading Jackson his wild animal magnets book, and we got to the leopard, which was missing. He said, “It looks like it got died. It must have got in the huge fire.”

On July 4, we went to a parade and had candy thrown at us by smiling people. Jackson stood close to Mom and was reluctant to chase the candy, but Grant crawled around on the street near the curb we were sitting on and chewed on Tootsie Rolls. Fortunately, we stopped him long enough to take the wrappers off. That night, we played with sparklers in the backyard. Jackson loved them, Grant’s hand got burned (he’s okay).

The next night, Marquette had a fireworks display, and we all went to the beach on Lake Superior to watch. I was worried we would be late when we got there at 9:45 p.m., but it stays so light at this time of year here that the display didn’t start until about 11 p.m. When they first started to go off, Jackson crouched low and put his hands on his head as if in a bombing drill. Once the fear wore off, he and Grant were enthralled by the explosions and colors in the sky.

On Friday night, Neal and Glenn arrived after a 13-hour drive from Kansas to stay with us for the week. On Saturday we got a babysitter and went with friends to play croquet at the park. I almost won. That evening, Neal, Glenn and I went with one of my friends to jump off a 15-foot cliff into Lake Superior. I was the least brave and went in last, and all my fears of the cold water were realized when I finally took the plunge.