4th of July

We love the 4th of July! We had a wonderful holiday weekend this year. It started off early with Aunt Heidi coming to town! She booked a last minute trip to come visit and the boys (and everyone else too) were totally psyched. The first thing she did was take the boys on a special date to see "Finding Dory". The boys loved it, they especially love that Aunt Heidi lets them pick out whatever treats they want. They are super spoiled and they love her. 

Since Heidi was in town, we got together almost every night. We had a fun Saturday night swim night, a girls night with our dear BFSC Jana (who magically happened to be in town for a little bit for a wedding, although we didn't take pictures it was wonderful), and then all got together for Sunday dinner again. Last minute on Sunday morning I realized we did have two somewhat patriotic ties! I had forgotten that the "candy-cane" striped tie from Christmas also works well as an American flag tie. They looked so cute together. I loved that we sang America the Beautiful and My Country Tis of Thee at church, and I got a little choked up each time. I'm so thankful for this great place we live.

Our actual 4th of July was very chill. We did our traditional red, white and blue breakfast (which is waffles with whipped cream, blueberries, strawberries and raspberries). Ben did comment to me that even though it's a patriotic breakfast we make sure we have on the 4th, in reality we also eat it all summer long. It's our favorite.

After a little yard work, naps and a really relaxed day at home we ventured up to my parents house in the late afternoon for the main event! We started with the pool, where everyone had a great time.

Then we moved on to the BBQ. We had Kate's parents and brother join us, as well as our family friend Pam. It was a really fun group. Everyone also really seemed to enjoy the flag cake that Heidi and I slaved over. 

 While we were waiting for it to get dark, Chase ran inside to grab "Go Fish" and rounded up a nice crew to play with him. At one point the boys convinced Nana to join them in the hammock for an awesome story-telling experience by Hudson. His story was all about "a snake named Grapes" and the napkin he was holding was actually a pirate map. That's the extent to which I understand the story.

When it finally got a little darker we let the boys do sparklers, which were a hit, and slightly less dangerous/stressful than last year. My mom bought a whole pack of red, white and blue glowsticks that kept them very occupied and happy for the rest of the night. By the end we were all wearing various necklace/bracelet/anklets that they had made for us. We moved up onto the deck to watch the fireworks- it's really the best view you can get. We watched hundreds of fireworks shows at the same time all over the valley. Will had a patriotic playlist on his phone, so we listened to awesome music while watching the amazing show. It was a wonderful grand finale to a wonderful holiday!