Best 4th ever!

I love having the 4th on a Saturday because not only do you have the day off, but you have the whole weekend to celebrate! I didn't have school on Friday but Steve still had to work so we started off our weekend with the Bountiful Rec centers pool...They a have a pirate ship! Sarah's kids had a blast and Lilly and Olivia just loved hanging out in the sun and splashin in the pool. Lilly and I have gone swimming a few times and she just loves the water. We just sit in the shallow end and Lilly splashes and Mommy wishes she could get a tan! Maybe someday.... So anyway, sorry I didn't grab any pictures... I had my camera, but I was too busy playing with little girls and boys to snap some photos. So after that we went to Sarahs house and hung out for a while. When it was time to leave, we ended up standing outside my car for like, 3 minutes.. and in those 3 minutes I was eaten alive by mosquitoes. I'm allergic to them so right now my ankles and calves are REALLY swollen and super itchy. I'm going crazy not to itch them right now.

So the next morning Steve, Lilly and I drove up to Kaysville again to watch their parade. The kids had so much fun! Watching parades with children is SOO much more fun than without. The boys got lots of candy and Lilly got to have a little bit too. She wasn't afraid of the sirens or anything. I did cover her hears though cause I want her to be able to hear things later in life! The best part of the parade by far was that there was a float sponsered by Old Navy. We were at the very end of the parade route and so all the floats either were out of candy by the time they got to us, or realizing they had way more than they needed and throwing it out like crazy! Well the Old Navy float were giving out bouncy balls and apparently they only had one left. A lady walked up to Steve holding Lilly and said "This is the last bouncy ball and I'm giving it to your daughter because she is wearing an Old Navy dress!" We thought it was seriously the coolest thing ever!! I'm going to keep that bouncy ball forever!

Getting ready for the parade to begin!

The girls!

My baby and me!

Eating candy! I love patriotism!

Our Family!

Taco Time beads!

"The" Bouncy Ball!

So after the parade we went home for lunch (Albertsons chicken and hot dogs! What else are you going to eat? It's 4th of July!) and then naps. We were all really tuckered out! That night we went over to Sarahs neighbors for a barbeque and more swimming. They made the best desserts EVER. I'm totally making them. You get marshmallows (any kind - regular, strawberry, caramel...) And stick a stick in them, dunk them in dipping chocolate and then roll them in any kind of crumbled candy. My favorite one was the caramel marshmallow rolled in Oreo... It was seriously quite possibly the best dessert I've ever had! Then we headed out to the street for some awesome fireworks. Steve and I brought a big box of them, the neighbors had a few and their other neighbors contributed 2 big illegals. We opened with the smaller of the illegals. 13 "vertical rising" fireworks shot in the air. They were pretty cool! Sarah's other neighbor is a fireman and his wife came out and yelled at us... but that didn't stop them. We lit all of the other fireworks we had brought. All while Wyatt sat next to his "girlfriend" holding his ears VERY tightly.. didn't like the noise... Noah sitting next to his friend, the girls constantly lighting and putting out endless amounts of sparklers, Steve trying to get his lighter to work so he could get in on the pyrotechnics more, Sarah and my mom freaking out about the bigger illegal firework to follow, Brad and his friends making off color jokes that we hoped the kids didn't understant, and me freaking out about mosquitoes! Lilly and Olivia were tucked away fast asleep in Sarahs house.. not even a peep from them even though there were really loud noises coming from the street! Once all of our fireworks were done, we started debating whether or not we would light the big one. It was scary because we were trying to figure out what it did, but the only thing it said on the box was "Shoots flaming balls."We took a vote, and thanks to Steve's loud and enthusiastic voice... We lit it. And boy did it shoot flaming balls... it seriously looked like a professional show. 30 giant popping fireworks. They were beautiful and right above us. We were PELTED with ashes.. some of them kind of hurt... It was totally worth it though.

The next day we took it easy. Relaxed with the family, watched some Tour de France (CANNOT believe Lance Armstrong is back and frankly not too happy about it... I mean I kind of understand... but really... what's he trying to prove?) Lilly walked around with Brad for a while, and then We had a delicious spaghetti dinner which Lilly loved!!

Of course she was covered so before we went home we put her and Olivia in the bathtub. They are almost the same size so when you look at them, it doens't look like there is that big of an age difference. But when they got in the tub Lilly was splashing and standing, and doing all sorts of things, and to me she just looked bigger and older than Olivia... FINALLY! haha. She is such a "shrimp boat" as Sarah and Brad would say!

Then once all the kids were in bed asleep and Lilly was ready to go home, we finished up the night with a few comparisons... I think Brad might win... what do you think?

I love my famiy! Thanks for the great weekend!