July 1

In one month from today, it will be three days before the Fourth of July, so I'm going to remember what I can about July 1.

2013. We were in California. In the morning, Ya-ping pulled weeds/grass from her garden to feed to the animals at the little farm we were going to. When we got to the farm, we saw some butterflies dancing with each other in the air. We fed some cows, and one was so eager that he took a whole bunch of grass out of the plastic bag we had. There was an awkward moment where Preston was confused about the anatomy of a sheep. Eventually we left. At one point, Preston got a little baggy of goodies (I think from the library) for having read, among which was a giant inflatable ice cream cone. I remember sitting in the car, trying to get Franklin to say "play" instead of "fay"; he actually did pretty well with my coaching. That afternoon, we went to Target. The teenage girl with us bought some $5 movies. I wanted to get red, white, and blue Goldfish crackers and patriotic Pop-Tarts. My mom wanted popsicles; she got big strawberry ones and little red, white, and blue ones. At the checkout, I wanted fruit punch mints, and Preston asked my mom if I was paying with my own money. While my mom was at Little Caesar's getting pizza, my dad and I walked the boys home. The teenage girl said she'd never had Little Caesar's before.

2012. About three in the morning, my roommate's book fell of the dresser and woke me up, and then I noticed that my roommate Bryton was not in his bed. I went out in the living room and discovered that he was still awake, preparing a lesson for priesthood, he being the elders quorum president. The next day, he gave his patriotic lesson. After breaking my fast, I ate the patriotic cupcake my friend Kat had given me the day before. I made a post on this blog about a 1995 family vacation. 

2011. I had to drive town to Southtowne mall to pick up my stuff for the Freedom Run. Then I drove home.

2010. Some of my classmates from French were having a cultural activity. In France, they often make a "Bûche de Noël" at Christmas, a cake that looks like a log, so I made a "Bûche du Quatre Juillet" with red, white, and blue sprinkles and red, white, and blue Tootsie Roll Pops. I drove to the house where it was being hosted by a married couple. They had an adorable baby, and I felt bad when I was watching her and she hit her head. The mom told me it was OK. The husband kept the Tootsie Roll Pop from his piece of cake, but other people just put them in the pan. When I got home, I put a note on the cake filling, Cool Whip mixed with pudding, saying anyone could have it.

2002. It was our last day in Iowa, visiting my cousin Tammy and her family. She let her kids watch a movie every Monday, so on this Monday morning three-year-old Adam was watching The Jungle Book. At one point, he said, "Oh no, Shere Khan is coming! My grandma thought he said, "Grandpa," so she said, "He's in the bathroom."

2001. I believe this was the Sunday in New York, where it was my second week in the Pulaski Ward, and Chancey and Jesse were with me in Sunday School. The teacher had us say something interesting, and I said that Chancey and Jesse were my cousins, and she said she wouldn't have known that otherwise.

1999. It's possible this was July 2, but I was with my parents and we drove in the Uintas. We passed our preferred campsite of Moosehorn, which was covered with snow. We went up to a lookout, where we looked down on the lake. I noticed the little boulder I had often gone to. I built a small snowman, and I made a joke that they must be called the Uintas because it sounds like "You wintah [winter]."