Independence Day! (Week of fun #4)

My kids were dying to have their cousins over to spend the night. Since we don't do friend sleepovers, their opportunities for having a sleepover are pretty limited. It looked like there wouldn't be time for it to happen, but right at the end, it did! They were so excited! 

We met up with Keyton's family at Liberty Park to play at the Seven Rivers water play area. It's my favorite one around the Wasatch Front-- lots of trees and shade, room for lots of people to play, water to splash in but not enough to have to worry much about water safety. We try to go at least once each summer. This year we took rubber duckies and little airplanes that floated, and it was a fun twist to watch them float the river. 

Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures, but we had a great time! Kevin met us there after work and we put the 7 kiddos in our two cars and headed home for pizza and a movie. 

It's been really fun to watch Luke thrive having his boy cousins around to play with, instead of just tagging along after the girls. He has loved it! He asks often when he'll get to play with them again. 

 Mini Oreos for dessert!

 Everything is more fun with cousins, right? I found these guys snuggled in bed watching a show here instead of the family room!

We were supposed to meet up with all the adults from my family for a sealing session doing family names at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Tuesday night. Unfortunately half the family cancelled, so disappointing! The last time our family has been together in the temple was when Cora was around 1 year old, and it was a really special experience. Who knows when that opportunity will come again? Oh well. Keyton and Liz came anyway to pick up their kids. We met them at the splash pad with Cafe Rio and had a relaxing evening playing and talking. 

Wednesday was our catch-up day. The kids had dentist appointments. Evelyn made leaps and bounds of progress since last appointment, when she screamed the whole time and tried to bite the dentist. She was a bit apprehensive when the chair started moving back, but she laid in the chair and let the hygienist clean her teeth and let the dentist count them. Of course it didn't hurt that she got to watch Frozen while they worked!

 We also went to the library and took the time to play on this musical art piece-- each square sounds a tone when you step on it. I got my hair cut, the kids had a playdate, just normal stuff to get ready for the holiday weekend.  

Thursday morning we had a ward breakfast activity at a park. It was so well-done and a lot of fun! We cooked 4 pounds of bacon for it, so that helped get us there at 8:00. Our ward doesn't have many activities, so I especially love it when they do, and a kid-friendly one is even better! 

Keyton and Liz joined us that afternoon for water play in the backyard. We had the kiddie pool, slide, a sprinkler, the bounce house, and the water table set up. So much fun! I wasn't sure if Evelyn would be big enough to play in the kiddie pool without help this year, but she loved it! She could get in and out of the pool by herself and loved going down the slide to splash. 

 We barbecued for dinner, and the meal was complete with baked beans (my favorite-- it's a tradition at our house!), watermelon, chips, and sugar cookie bars for dessert. 

 Cora opened her present from her cousins to celebrate her baptism. She loves it! 

 We watched Rio-- such a fun show for the whole crowd. The kids were dancing to the music at the end, even Chase!

  One, two, three.... pop-it! The kids were dying to start with the fireworks.

 

 

 

We had fun watching the fireworks Kevin bought (thank goodness for all those coupons and groupons!). The big finale was quite amazing! 

I had expected to put Evelyn to bed, but she was doing great and enjoying herself, so she got to stay up! We popped a lot of popcorn and got ready for the big show. We have neighbors two streets up from us who go all out for the 4th of July. They spend literally thousands and thousands of dollars and put on a professional show. It's amazing! And we are lucky to have a perfect view from our lawn! It's really nice to watch them, be so close, and not leave home or deal with traffic-- so fun! 

 

 

 Firework picture never seem to turn out that great, but you'll have to imagine spectacular fireworks right below the big moon. It was pretty cool! And lest you think I'm exaggerating about my neighbor's show, here's the picture they posted of their leftovers from the 50 minute display.

It was a fun-filed day to celebrate Independence Day!