4th of July!

We had a fabulous 4th of July weekend.  The weather was gorgeous and we had just the right amount of activities planned.  Thursday morning, we started getting in the spirit with a Pinterest inspired activity.  I taped together bendable straws and they dipped them in paint and made “fireworks.”Friday morning we got all the crazies dressed in their red, white, and blue and then it was off the parade.  It was much cooler than last year and we found a shady spot, so that made it much more enjoyable.  The parade is nothing to write home about, but the kids enjoyed the fire trucks, the few horses, and the few large inflatables.    Love her little skirt and headband: Owen was a little bored except when they threw out some candy: I love how smiley this little guy is becoming.  I don’t know what to do with a boy who smiles!We didn’t have any other plans so we spent the day just hanging out and enjoying having William home.  Saturday morning, we enjoyed another gorgeous day and took a long family walk.  We got everyone (including Owen) to take decent naps as we knew it’d be a long night.  After naps, we packed everyone up and headed to Tuscola where Owen’s best buddy Sam and his family live.  We ate an awesome dinner and the boys had a blast playing with each other.  We also finally got a picture of Miles and Jack – maybe future bff’s? At about 8 we drove over to Tuscola’s park area – it had a pool, park, baseball fields, etc.  We really could not have asked for a better experience.  Our vans are literally 5 feet away (in case of babies waking up or Ellie getting scared).  We were one of maybe 6 families on this whole field.  The kids played with their glow sticks while it got dark.  I brought things to make snack necklaces (a piece of yarn with things like fruit loops, butter cookies, pretzels, etc to string on).  That went over like a lead balloon.  They just ate the snacks. I was pretty nervous about how Ellie and Miles would do.  But it was awesome.  Ellie covered her ears for the first half, but then forgot about it and seemed fine.  Miles literally slept the whole time, and the whole way home too!  The show was great for a small town and the perfect length.  And getting out of the park only took about 15 minutes.  So much smoother than I think it would have gone at Memorial with the huge crowds.  I definitely think we’re going to make this a yearly tradition with the Bubbs!  Happy 4th of July everyone!