Let Freedom Ring!

Our Fourth of July started out like another other Saturday in our house. Bryan went golfing until noon while I cleaned the house and got the boys ready for the day. After naps we went to my friend Katrina's house for a barbeque with the Poyfairs. Katrina is in Carissa's ward, but I've known her for about a year. Her house was awesome! There is a whole basement of toys (we didn't see Rix the entire time, he stayed downstairs) and her backyard had swings, slides, a trampoline, and lots of running space. And the food was awesome! We left around 8:30, scouted out our fireworks watching spot in Steilacoom, and went home to gather jackets, camp chairs, water, and snacks. We then turned around and went back to the spot we had found earlier. It was sa-weet! We normally go to Gravelly Lake with my dad. This usual location is a friend of his, and it is also the same people who put off the fireworks so it is loud and so fun! But this year my mom and dad ditched us (still getting over that) and we had to find a new spot. My friend Tiffany told us about this park that is on top a hill that overlooks the Puget Sound in Steilacoom, and it gave a perfect view of the fireworks. And since not a lot of people know about it, it wasn't crowded at all. The only drawback is that because it's on a hill, and we were sitting at the edge, I was nervous the whole time that the kids were going to fall down the super-steep hill into the bushes, but luckily we had no such excitement. The kids were pretty tired and the fireworks lost their appeal after about ten minutes, but they had a lot of fun, especially Cole who had never seen fireworks before! We hope your 4th of July was just as fun and that you took some time to remember why we are celebrating in the first place!

Bryce on the trampoline at Katrina's.

Cole lounging on daddy - with my sunglasses.

At the fireworks. You can sort of see the slope to the right. It was so fun to hear Rix and Olivia argue about the color of the fireworks (Rix thought they were red and blue, Olivia thought they were pink and purple, but whatever). Olivia also let me know the round fireworks weren't circles but "potatoes" and the thinner ones were "lipstick". Who knew?

Rix is super excited about the fireworks. All the kids were excited, but I think they are still too young to be out that late. They were a teensy bit whiny all night (and all day Sunday too!).

Cole and Mommy. Cole was by far the least interested in fireworks. They were fun in the beginning, but he just needed to go to bed. We held him off with food and more food.

Rix and Bryce took a break (the show was pretty long!) and watched a few minutes of Cars of Bryan's IPod. Hooray for America!