Independence Day!

Our 4th this year was a terrific one! We went in the morning and bought a bunch of boring, legal, child-friendly fireworks :)

We then spent the afternoon at the pool with Uncle Jason and the 3 kiddos. Such a blast!

After some quick showers, naps and a snack we were ready to start the fun!

Grandma and Grandpa came over and our party began.

Poppers

Smoke bombs

Pretty girls...

Tanks, and tank battles :) 

Here's a picture of some of our loot lined up on the sidewalk.

Fountains, volcanoes, pandas, flower blooms, sparklers, you name it!

We even got to celebrate with Aunt Rasy for a bit via Skype!

Get here soon!!!

Daddy had an especially good time doing snakes with the kiddos!

Hannah wasn't sure what to make of them, but that made it more fun!

Her favorite part... clean-up! She was so excited to get her hands on a giant broom. She really perked up when we brought it out and begged for a turn!

"I'm really good at sweeping mom!"

Nathan also really got into the poppers that looked like little pistols! Put 'em up dad!

As it got darker we started lighting more of the fun stuff. Hannah took her seat right next to Grandpa!

Jeremy nailed a bunch of spinners to a 2x4

Once we lit one they all lit each other and it was quite the spectacle, especially because it took Jeremy by surprise and he was the one holding the board!

We all got decked out with glow sticks, necklaces, and bracelets.

Mine looked more fun in the dark :)

Johnny needed some ear plugs, though! Too loud for him!

 We lit up the street in front of our house with all we had and then....

The real show started! Sadly, I didn't take any pictures.. but our neighbors spend thousands of dollars on all kinds of illegal explosive goodies. We were up on the roof watching all the shows round-about that we could see when a spectacular one started right in front of our noses!

It was the first year in a while we didn't go through the ritual of camping out all day to see a city show, but it was nice to have the day to ourselves and not have to fight the traffic war afterwards. The kids LOVED getting to get up on the roof, and we all enjoyed the family time together.

Happy Independence Day!

This is a little on the lengthy side, but gives a taste of what our relaxing, family day looked like :)