Independance Day - 4th of July

The Fourth of July...What a day! We were so lucky to be able to spend the day with so many family members and have such a great time! I spent some time this morning thinking about how fortunate we are to live in a country with so many freedoms and opportunities and hope to be able to always celebrate such a great day!

Our family had a relaxing morning and then went over to Grandma Deb's and Grandpa Rod's house for games with family, a wonderful BBQ, and later some spectacular fireworks.

We spent some time that afternoon filling water balloons for some fun activities, but the pile kept dwindling...I wonder why? Here is the thief caught red handed!

Here is a shot of all the kiddos ready to go with waterguns, spray bottles, and the biggest OtterPops I have ever seen in my life!
Here is a picture of our cousin Tyler - I think that he is very pleased with the size the OtterPops came in!
As many of you know, our little Alex just LOVES OtterPops, so he was in Heaven with his!
Cousin Rhiannon ready for battle!
Here is McKaleigh enjoying her battle with cousin Nick - Looks like she is having a great time, but I am not sure if Nick would say the same thing.
Cousin Wade taking a turn on the Slip and slide. Grandma has the BEST hill for that!
Here are McKaleigh and Colton enjoying a paddleball game out in the back yard. Its a wonder we were injury free, the way they swatted that ball around!
Our buddy Alex taking his turn on the slide! He could play outside in the water all day if we would let him.
Two peas in a pod. McKaleigh and Rhiannon had not seen each other in almost 31/2 years, but had a great time together.

Here is cousin Sam, running some races in the back yard.
Aunt Heather brought this bounce house over and the kids had a great time in it!

Daddy trying to explain "taking turns" to Alex. He thought that he should be allowed in the bounce house every time.

Grandpa Rod also tried to explain to Alex that his turn would be next...It is just so very hard to be 2 somtimes!

Grandpa Rod was in charge of the timer for the bounce house. Cousin Wade is watching to make sure everything goes smoothly and Grandpa is sure to make the changes as soon as the timer rings!
Colton absolutely loves Fireworks! He was one of the first to get a Sparkler and light smoke bombs with it. Grandma Nan had this great idea to put the Sparklers in playdough so the kids would not get burned by the hot metal!
Alex was just fine holding an unlit Sparkler, sitting in grandpa's lap - as soon as we lit it - He absolutely lost it! We could not get him to stop crying for a long while!
Cousin Rhiannon with her Fireworks - she was a little more cautious!
Our brave cousin Wade holding his Sparkler. I really think that he liked the smoke bombs and worms - but definately NOT the Whistling Petes!
Even our little cousin Tyler got in on some Sparkler action. McKaleigh kept everyone a safe distance from the Fireworks - she is not really a fan.
Grandma Nan taking a turn keeping Alex safe.
Aunt Verity and Cousin Wade lining up his worms.
If we would have let him, I think Tyler would have lit them all off at once!
Here are the troops watching daddy put all kinds of fireworks together - I think they were cheering him on to make some kind of large explosion! Notice Cousin Sam in the back - getting ready for whatever was to come!
I think we all secretely envied Uncle Matt a little bit...He did what I think we all thought about...
At the end of the night, around 10:00 we took all of the kids and walked up to the country club by Grandma's house to enjoy an amazing fireworks display. Thanks to Aunt Heather, we were able to identify all of the kids with their glowing necklaces.
This was a great day, but I have to say that I did not get one picture of Grandma Deb - who we have to thank for the whole event! She was running every activity, dinner, dessert, and show - thanks to her, it was all so much fun! Lets do it again next weekend Grandma!

Happy 4th to everyone!