Fourth of July

We had a great 4th of July this year.  I think the last time that we tried to watch fireworks with the kids was when Zac was not even two, so two years ago.  If I remember right, Zac fell asleep right before they started, and Sadie was terrified of the loud bangs and booms that come with the fireworks show.  So we usually just put them to bed at normal time on the 4th and enjoy the evening by ourselves.  That is exactly what we planned on doing this year...

We started the day off by going to the parade, which is just by the park by our house.  So we walked over there, met up with some of our friends and watched the parade.  It was pretty hot outside and the parade seemed to last forever!  After about an hour or so, we decided to watch the rest of it from the shade nearby while we ate our picnic lunch.  Lots of other people were leaving too, but there were still quite a few floats left.  Anyway, it was tons of fun being with our friends and the kids loved watching the floats drive by.

Then we rushed home so we could put the kids down for a nap/quiet time and clean up the house and prep for our friends who were coming over for a BBQ in a few hours.  Of course, Emery fell asleep for about 15 minutes in the stroller on the walk home, so she didn't take a nap.  But she was pleasant the rest of the day anyway.  I think it helped that our friends and Rob's brother and wife were there.

We enjoyed the BBQ and after our friends left, we decided to walk over to the neighborhood party that was going on.  At this point it was about 7:30 (30 minutes past our kids bedtime...I know...we are such mean parents to put our kids down so early) but the kids were doing alright.  We stayed there for a while and chatted with some of our new neighbors and ward members. 

Oh I forgot to mention that we threw some pop-its in the backyard and I got some glow bracelets out for the kids before we walked over to the party.  Sadie was trying to crack her glow sticks some more because they weren't really glowing (it was still light out).  As she cracked it, they exploded open and the glow juice went right into her eyes.  She screamed and screamed.  So I took her inside and started pouring water in her eyes...and Rob looked up what to do on the computer.  Turns out, you just keep pouring water in their eyes for ten minutes.  So that is what I did....anyway, moving on...

When we got home from the party, Luke broke out his fireworks to do in front of our house.  They were pretty awesome this year.  There were a lot more fireworks that were legal, and you could tell.  They were going off all around us.  It was crazy.  The kids even liked them after watching from the window for a while.  Then we set up a blanket on our front lawn and watched the city fireworks show.  We have a pretty good view.  So by eleven or so the kids were finally in bed.  And then I went to bed shortly after.  It was a pretty busy day, but it was so fun to have a day like that every once in a while.  Hope you all had a good 4th of July!  I am glad that I get to enjoy the freedoms we do here in the USA!

 This was our treat for FHE on Monday before the fourth of July.

 I don't think we even had time for FHE that night...

 But we still ate the yummy treats of course!

 Rob put this screen thing up before the parade.  He is so manly!

 Walking to the park.  This is the part that always scares me...crossing the tracks!  Fortunately they weren't running that day so it was a little less stressful.

 Waiting for the parade.

 All the kids waiting for candy...unfortunately, we were at the very end of the parade, so most of the candy was all gone.  I think they each got two pieces of taffy.  I'm ok with them not having a ton of sugar!

Yay for friends!

 Our kids sure love their aunts and uncles.  Although, ever since we had a visit from uncle Isaac, they call all of their uncles "Isaac".  It is pretty funny!

 Throwing pop-its all over the place.  ( I dont' know what they are really called!)

 Watching the firework show uncle Luke is putting on.

 Sparklers...the kids are still terrified of these. 

 The kids begged Uncle Luke to play the blanket game (throw a blanket on them) again and again and again...

 My friend Laurel made this delicious fruit pizza.  It was so yummy!  Rob just ate the last piece today.  So good!

And here are some fun red white and blue cookies I made.  It is fun to make these kind of cookies, but only once in a while, because they take a lot of time and patience.  Ha ha.  But I love how they turned out.  Almost too pretty to eat!