July Photo Dump

For the sake of documenting the photos for the blog book, I'm just going to drop these right here for the sake of catching up!

We had a wonderful July.  It's our only month of 'nothing.'  No school for either kid, and for now, no scheduled activities.  I know that will change someday....but this year, July meant Nowhere to be early in the morning.  Relaxing morning.  Snuggles, TV, reading, tea parties, and legos.  We logged many hours at the pool, hit the movie theater, the splash park, the bowling alley, and the arcade.  We bounced in bounce houses, played with friends, had cookouts, and watched fireworks.  The kids planned dinners, made forts, had sleepovers in each other's rooms and the living room, and of course, we added a new puppy to our family.  Everything was truly wonderful!

Independence Day

Here we are over a month later, but I finally have some time to blog our 4th of July pictures!

We got all ready in our red, white and blue to head to Adam's house.

We spent ALL day watching Mr. Adam and Daddy set off fireworks.  What fun watching money literally get blown!

 

Eventually, they started to get too loud for Gavin, and Riley...well, Riley just got mad about stuff.

We did take breaks from the fireworks to play Cornhole.  So fun!

 My most favorite part of the night came when the sun was starting to go down, and the lightning bugs started to come out.  Such a simple joy of childhood that I have so many fond memories of, but my children have never experienced.  I honestly didn't think lightning bugs were even around here!  Why?  Well, honestly, my kids are usually asleep before the sun goes down in the summer.  But, we also live in an area without many trees or bushes, so we just don't see them!  

So, needless to say, when I saw them coming out, it was like I was a child all over again.  We ran around like crazy kids chasing and trying to catch lightning bugs. Hands down, one of the best memories I've had with my kids in a long time.

We didn't leave Adam's until almost 9:30, and they were both clearly exhausted...

The drive home was beyond beautiful.  With fireworks being legal here, everyone goes all out for the holiday, and the drive from Adam's to our house was just filled with gorgeous firework displays.  Continuous explosions of color, and it was magnificent.  

When we got home, we carried the kids to bed and it wasn't long before Jarrod was also knocked out.  So, I went and sat in our backyard and watched our neighborhood display by myself.  So peaceful and gorgeous. 

 

4th of July!

We had a very busy holiday weekend and it's very nice to be back to a routine! Our neighbors and landlord informed us that 4th of July was a big deal in our neighborhood. Fireworks of all kinds are legal to buy here in Arkansas, so some residents in our neighborhood put on a big display that we were told is better than the Bentonville fireworks in town.

So, we prepared the house for a 4th of July party with some of Jarrod's co-workers. Gavin and I made the decorations.

The morning of the 4th, we cleaned and cooked for hours. I made Beer Bread, two different dips, a fruit salad, and watermelon lemonade among other things. I wanted to get a picture of the 3 of us before the party started, and this is what I ended up with. 3 guys that Jarrod works with and their families came over. Jarrod told me that they were bringing their kids, but he didn't know how old they were. I'd prepared Gavin all day, telling him kids were coming to play with him. Well, the 'kids' showed up and were all between 11 and 17. Not his kind of kids! And, they brought along ALL of their Rock Band equipment to play. Gavin was in awe!

When the boys abandoned the game to eat, Gavin couldn't help but try the drums. :)

Finally it was dark enough to do the fireworks. Gavin, of course, didn't even make it up past 8 o'clock. Everyone was right....the display was amazing! And so close!!! They set them off in the empty lot at the end of our street. It was so nice to sit in our own yard and see nearly 2 HOURS worth of fireworks!

About 30 minutes into the display, Gavin woke up crying. He's really scared of the fireworks. He kept saying, "No fireworks, No fireworks!" We put him in our bed with Toy Story on and he fell back asleep, next to a trembling dog. Both of our kids - scared to death of the fireworks!

But the display continued! And I LOVED it!

Happy 4th of July! Maybe next year Gavin will be able to enjoy the holiday as much as Mommy does!

4th of July Fun!

For the 4th of July this year, we took advantage of our new location and went camping with some friends from Sam's along the shores of Lake Erie. We drove a couple hours west toward Buffalo, just past where Lake Ontario becomes Lake Erie. Jarrod's GM, John, has been going there for years, since his college friend's family owns a cottage there. We enjoyed the gorgeous views, grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, Curtis set off fireworks, and we slept in a tent...all 4 of us! (Jarrod, myself, Gavin and Shirley!) It all went better than I expected, even though it was really chilly and windy.

Here's Jarrod and Gavin checking out the waves The view down the beach

Me and my hubby, back together again!

What do you mean we're sleeping in here???

Getting ready for fireworks on the beach. Thanks, Daddy, for letting me wear your hoodie, too! The wind was crazy :)

I'm in the red with Gavin (he's in there, I promise!) and we're with Julie and 4 month old, Evan, and John's girlfriend, Erin, with her baby, Duncan, the hyperactive dog! :)

Gorgeous sunset

Passed out, during the fireworks! How can he sleep through it??? Notice he's still gripping his glow stick :)

Pretty cool shot

We met some great new friends and enjoyed all the babies and dogs :) There were 6 little boys under the age of 3! Happy 4th of July from New York.