4th of July

{Patriotic Fruit Pizza :) }

While our 4th of July weekend seemed to go by quickly, it was nevertheless packed with family, festivities, and fun.  This year, Kristin and company -- or the "Aunt Kristins" as Alex started calling them -- drove over on Friday evening and stayed until Sunday morning.  The kids were in cousin heaven -- as they always are -- and fun was had all around.  We started our holiday morning off with a ward breakfast, threw in some swimming in the afternoon, scarfed down your standard 4th of July fare for lunch, and then split into groups while Scott and Blake took all the older kids to the amusement park, and Kristin and I took Alex and Jane to the "Firecracker Festival" downtown. 

Breakfast.  Nom.  Hahaha.

Scooting along in the kid bike parade.  He was super excited that Grace let him try to use his scooter. :)

The bike paraders/Primary kids.

While the big kids had a BLAST at the amusement park, the little ones had just as much fun jumping in Bounce Houses, eating snow cones, making sand art, and getting balloon animals.  And while I do have plenty of evidence of the little kid fun, there are sadly no pictures to document the big kid blast.  Hahaha.  Oh well.  You can just imagine lots of pictures of kids on roller coasters and other crazy amusements that I would NEVER, ever try.  :)

Can't forget about that free popsicle they got on the way out!

We got the little ones home at a very decent hour for dinner, baths, and bed, but the older crowd didn't get home until almost midnight.  Let's just say that sleep deprivation was the order of the weekend for all of my older kids.  Hahaha.  Sadly, the Aunt Kristins had to leave Sunday morning, but all was well with Grace, who headed on home with them for another mini cousin swap in celebration of Hannah's belated birthday.  Sophie was more than a bit heartbroken that she couldn't go, too, but her long-awaited allergist appointment was scheduled for this week and I had to keep her home to get that taken care of.  

Sunday also brought Ethan's departure for Scout Camp, and the last few days have been rather odd having only 3 high-maintenance children to care for rather than the usual 5.  Hahaha.  Absence makes the heart grow fonder, though, and I am looking forward to the return of ALL my children by the end of this week.  :)  Until next time...