Wordless Wednesday

4th of July - Part 2

We packed up and left the lake as it started cooling off. We got back to the farm and I got Lou down for the night while the bigger girls changed into warmer clothes for the fireworks show. We started off with some sparklers.

We got the extra long ones to keep little fingers safe. :)

My pictures of Bug and Boo were too blurry. :( But I got some cute ones of Peanut and Peaches.

Ready for the show with cheerleader Peaches. :)

It was almost pitch black so we had to flash them for these next two pictures. Bug was closing her eyes till the last second. This one wasn't bad. 

But this one cracked us up! Bug's funny face and the fireworks started just then and Peanut lurched forward to see them. Haha!

The guys gave us a great show and the girls went to bed happy and tired from the busy day. 

The next morning Daddy lit off some of the more kiddish ones that didn't necessarily need darkness like jumping jacks, smoke bombs, and snakes.

Then Grandma and Auntie Nae had a super fun craft project for the kids...tie-dye shirts with the dye in water guns so they got to shoot their patterns on! They loved it! 

The shirts all turned out really cute! I'll have to get a picture of them all wearing them.

This little monkey was everywhere..trying to get into the dye and steal the squirt guns. Daddy ran around with her and she thought that was great fun!

After lunch the kids had a water balloon fight. They had a blast!

Then we spent a couple hours just relaxing and visiting while the baby slept.

They were using S's phone to put animal faces on everyone and were laughing so hard! Especially when they did it to Grandpa. Haha! 

Happy girls!

And we talked the boys into posing for an all-cousin picture for us. I can't believe how fast these kiddos are growing up!

Thanks for the great weekend everyone!!!

4th of July!

We finally got to have a 4th at the farm again! The girls were so excited! It used to be tradition for T's side of the family to meet at the farm for the 4th and it was always one of the highlights of our summer! For one reason or another it hasn't happened the last few years so the girls were even more excited that it worked out this year! 

We got down to Grandma and Grandpa's shortly before bed and they were eager to see their cousins, but the Oregon ones got held up and the girls had to end up going to bed before they saw them. They went to bed disappointed, but excited for the  next day. 

They woke up to one of Grandpa's wonderful breakfasts of pancakes, sausage, eggs, and homemade applesauce from Grandpa's tree. Lou found the applesauce delightful and ate four helpings of that and almost nothing else. Haha. 

She also discovered "the shoe" this time and was able to ride it around. It used to be Auntie Nae's and all of them have loved it even though it's quite apt to "buck them off". Haha.

The girls got in some playing time waiting for their cousins to wake up after their late night. 

Their other set of cousins made it over and got right to work playing too! Thankfully we get to see these cousins more often since they only live two hours away as opposed to eight...but still not enough for the girls' liking!

Everyone was headed to the lake for the afternoon so I got Lou down for a super early nap (11:30 instead of the usual 1:30) and after lunch we all headed to the fireworks stand. I didn't even notice T in this picture until I was editing. Lol.

Peanut was especially excited for the fireworks this year!

Peaches didn't really know what we were doing but caught on that it was something unusual and fun. :)

Lou woke up from a good nap and we grabbed a couple of pictures in our patriotic gear. 

Sisters!

They absolutely adore their cousin S. She is going to be a senior in high school next year and is their role model in every way!

Peaches was the only one who would let me take her picture. The rest ran off to get changed so we could go to the lake.

We made the long drive over there and two minutes after we arrived the girls were all straight in the lake. 

Somehow in all the packing Lou ended up without a swimsuit. Thankfully I had packed two for Peaches so with a hairband holding up the bottoms she did fine. Haha.

We learned the importance of life jackets at all times after the girls got on this floaty and then it went farther out than they expected. Peanut jumped off it to try to swim back to shore and then panicked when she realized it was over her head and T had to jump in the freezing lake to get her. :/

Auntie Nae's brother-in-law on the other side was so nice to give all the kids rides on the tubes and wakeboards. Peaches wanted to go for a boat ride with Daddy while Bug and Boo rode on the tubes.

You can see the top of her little pink head. Haha.

They went out for a long time and had a blast!

We spent all the rest of the afternoon/evening playing in the water and sand and catching up with the family.

Lou LOVES to be outside and can dig in the dirt/sand for hours and hours. Inside she is a little terror, always getting into anything and everything, but outside she just toddles around does her own thing. Her only problem is eating sand/dirt/rocks/sticks...pretty much anything she can find. :P

Even teenagers like to dig in the sand sometimes. :)

Cousin S took Boo out on one of the kayaks!

And they sat for a long time talking and watching the water. It was so pretty up there!

Sweet girls!

It was a beautiful 4th, not too hot and not too cold, and we were so thankful for the family time!