...pool, popsicles, pina coladas, pop's pork chops and a little pee and poop, too!

In every sense of the word -- it was a "traditional" 4th of July celebration at the Courtney house this weekend. The only thing we didn't have was fireworks, but with the history of my kids in the ER that was probably a good idea. We celebrated my mom's birthday on Friday. We were all there - ALL 13 of us - even the brothers-in-law and our five kids, all under the age of 5. It was chaos, there were spats, but nobody got hurt and the memories we made will stay forever!

The pool is our gathering place. The kids love it! Big "B" learned to dive and we all got a healthy dose of vitamin D. I made pina coladas for the grown-ups and mom must have handed out no less than 20 popsicles to the kids and we didn't care! They LOVE popsicles like we LOVE pina coladas - the more you have, the happier you are. It's a win -win! Dad cooked his famous bar-b-que burgers and pork chops. They are THE BEST! I can't imagine a summer holiday without him behind the grill!

The twist this year was that my twin nephews were potty-training. Now, unless you have twins you have no idea what this is like. Potty-training one child is hard enough. Multiply that times two. Now - think about all those popsicles...and all that pool water around them. By the end of the weekend we had all figured out both boys' (sometimes very discreet) potty dances and we were rushing them in and out of the bathroom about every 10 minutes. There were accidents and lots of laughs along the way. It made me dread what was ahead for Little "B" but is also reminded me of how much fun it is to raise your family -- with your family.

As I was telling a co-worker about our "traditional" 4th of July holiday weekend, I was quickly corrected. What we got to experience was really not-so-traditional at all - especially these days. He pointed out not many families are as close as we are. Not all families have each other to rely on and to celebrate with. There wasn't one of us that would have missed that weekend together. We hated to leave but got excited as we started talking about our upcoming beach vacation. Yes, all 13 of us vacation every year together, too! It's also not-so-traditional, but I thank God every day it is OUR tradition.