4th of July, 2015!

4th of July this year was seriously one of the best days yet! It was jam packed to the brim, and it was so nice and refreshing getting the heck outta the house, away from laundry, dishes, and more laundry, and spending every second having fun with my guys. 

First, we woke up early and rode/walked in our neighborhood parade. Rad was a tough guy and almost made it the whole way on his push bike!    

Who are those handsome guys???

Meet our new neighbor Grey.

She's Rad's little lady. Seriously? I want to cry when I see the two of them. Grey is so super sweet to my sensitive boy and he's so in love with her. I just adore her to the moon and back!

Best playmates ever!

The parade ended in the park, where we were met with a big breakfast. We ate while the kids played (and took bites in between slide runs).

After the morning festivities, we headed out to another fun park where we met Rad's cousins and had water fights with squirt guns! Boo ya! When everyone had enough of being shot, we headed for pizza!

Bear loves him some Hoo Hoo and cousin Lilly!

We came home for a quick re-group...

My silly buddy!

Then we went over to my Aunt's house for a BBQ and swimming! I don't know if there's anything I like more than sitting by a pool, listening to music, enjoying a hamburger and watching my boys play in the pool! It felt so 4th of July of us!

It brought Rad so much joy to push Wren in the pool!

My lovers.

Then of course all the guys had to compete doing tricks off the diving board.

Even Cha Cha had herself a little fun!

Grandpa time!

But the fun didn't stop there...

We then headed to Rad's girlfriend's house for some driveway fireworks.

I just can't get over their little love affair!

And we were shocked that the boys were still hanging on, so we thought, what the hay. Let's take them to watch some big fireworks!

And let me tell you what, watching fireworks from the back of our truck bed, with ice cream (and a baba for Bear), was like, bomb. Easy set up, easy exit, lots of snuggling. In true form, Rad was scared and may have said things like, "That firework reminds me of food that makes me gag." And, "That one reminds me of a dead moose." Mhh. So we put him in the back of the truck bed. And of course, Bear didn't even flinch with the first one. How can siblings be so different?! 

So in love with my little family.

I'm also so in love with our country and the way it lets us raise our boys. When I think of our country, I often think of all of the families in different countries with children that go hungry or don't have an education or don't even have a family, and it really just sickens me. It's not fair. We are so blessed to be able to raise our families in this amazing country. Thank you to all who have fought for everything we have here.

The 4th, As If You Haven't Seen Enough Of That Already!

First of all, I'd like to make note of the changes that can happen in just one year. Both pictures were taken in the exact same place and at the exact same time, exactly one year apart. The picture on the left is from this 4th of July weekend and Radcliff's just a week shy of being a year old. And the picture on the right there is from the 4th last year and I was nine months pregnant and completely ready to pop! In fact, I was praying the bumpy ride would put me into labor. It was a no go. But wow, good things can happen in a year, right? For one, chubby pregnancy face, yikes. You never realize how homely you were pregnant until it's over! But more importantly, look at the sweet bundle of joy all out of the womb and everything silently screaming, "Put me down Ma, I want to crawl!" He's way better out than in, we could never have imagined someone as sweet or cute as himself. I mean, look at that square little face?

This year was exactly what the 4th should be. We headed up to Wren's sister's new house and swam at their pool with his family and Radcliff's baby cousins. The babies had a blast ripping their knees apart crawling on the cement (Radcliff's fat strawberry knees today!) and just lounging by the pool eating and talking scary food was just what I needed.

The following day, we headed to Utah Lake with my family for what was supposed to be a relaxing day of boating with my family (wait, did I just say relaxing with a one year old? That's hilarious) but that quickly went south due to the terror that is a boat ride in the eyes of my child. Let's just say he was much easier in than he was out in regards to boating. It frightened the daylights out of him and sent us home earlier than we'd like (especially considering getting us, him, and all of our crap out the door took longer than the whole boat excursion itself). Not only was he hot with the freaking life jacket on (I hate infant life jackets, can I just say that?) but every time my dad would hit the gas Radcliff would start screaming and shaking. It was really sad. Oh well, you live and learn! All the rays that weren't caught (by me) and the food my dad brought that wasn't eaten (by me)... It was a cryin shame!

Thanks to both families for the fun times! We've said it before, and we'll say it again. Our families are the cream of the crop. Truly!

Is it just me, or are Mondays after holiday weekends that much harder??? Boo.