4th of July

For the past couple of years my family has celebrated the 4th of July at my uncle and his wife's house with a BBQ, some swimming, the parade in Downtown Dover, and fireworks.  This year was no different, although we had to stop by home from the camp ground before going in order to scrub the funky dirt off of us!

Emma's happy to be clean!

Ready for the 4th of July!

I love those chunky thighs!!

My loves

Me, Emma, & Aiden

The kids think the best part is the swimming and it doesn't take them long to hop in! Usually it's just the Daddies that get in with them, but after being hot in the sun and the Mommies joined in this year too.  Of course I only got one of the pool because you can't take the nice camera in the water!

Pool time!

Watching the kids in the pool

After a yummy BBQ lunch/dinner it was time to get the kids ready for the parade.  Aimee, Kelly, and I made the girls red, white, and blue tutu's the night before.  It was my first try at making one and with their help, I was pretty happy with the way it turned out!

Emma in her tutu

We headed into Downtown Dover (luckily it's within walking distance of the house) and found the perfect spot for our giant crew of people.  We got there a little early, which was perfect because it allowed us plenty of time to take some pictures!

The kids waiting for the parade to start

Happy 4th of July!

Sibling love

Our handsome boy

The bigger kids waiting

The babies waiting

Ava loves when I take her picture :-)

Aiden and Gigi <3

A family picture

Mommy's girl

So pretty!

Taking a little walk

Sweet Emma

Waving my flag

Finally the parade started and all the candy being thrown kept the kids attention for quite awhile.  Emma liked the flashing lights and loud noises from some of the cars.

Watching the parade

Watching the parade with Daddy

Love this!!!

Waiting for more candy (notice what's already in the stroller)

Hunter & Aiden

At some point Emma lost interest in the parade and decided to take a walk around.  I couldn't resist a few more pictures because she just looked so darn cute in that little tutu!!

After the parade we went back to my uncle's for more swimming, snacking, and glow sticks!! Our family LOVES glow sticks for any occasion that happens after dark!

Working on getting his glow sticks back in the container

Kisses!

Getting the glow sticks just right

Super model Ava

At last it was time to head to the field for the fireworks! Aiden really enjoyed watching them and told us that different ones looked like his face, Emma's face, and his hand.  He must have been watching the same ones that I was looking at because I could have sworn that a couple of the fireworks looked like giant cheeseburgers...or maybe I was just hungry...again!! Emma seemed to like the fireworks at first, then she got a little nervous and needed to cling onto Patrick. By the end I looked over and she was knocked out.  I would have taken her picture but I was afraid the bright flash up close would scare her. 

Waiting for fireworks

Aiden waiting for the show

Pretty fireworks

Happy Birthday America!

Happy Birthday America!