~Happy 4th of July~

I know I say this every year, but I absolutely love the 4th of July. I don't know if its the fireworks, the BBQ's with family and friends, watching the smiles on my kids faces, eating slushies, or getting to see friends I haven't seen in forever, WAIT, it's all of the above and I love everything about it.

This year for the 4th of July we did what we do just about every year. We started off on Friday, the 2nd of July, by going to the Aurora park and letting Rylee play on the bounce slides, then watching Rylee perform with her mini cheer group, and then playing some more. After that, we went to Andrea and Kris' house for a BBQ. The kids ran around and played, and while most adults got to chat, Brett and I took turns following Dax around the yard since he wouldn't sit still for 2 seconds. That boy is on the GO! After the BBQ, we took the kids to watch Aurora's fireworks. By this time it was way past their bedtime, so we came home and put them to bed. Afterwards, Judi came and sat with the sleeping kids while we went to the street dance for a few hours.

On Saturday the 3rd of July, we woke up and took the kids to the Salina games and to watch the grease poll contest, that is always fun. We ate some slushies, played some games, bought some balloons, and Rylee even got to shoot at bugs bunny and tweety. After that we went and ate some lunch then we all took about a two hour nap, which felt SO nice! After our naps, we all got ready and went to the parade. We took Rylee to get on her float then we went to Andrea and Kris' house to watch the parade. Brett sat with Dax while I chased candy and took a few pics. I got Rylee a lot of candy, and I also caught some good stuff for her like a water mug, frisbee, bead necklaces, can cooler. She was really excited. It was fun getting to watch her go by in the parade. My baby is getting so big! Later that night we put Dax down for bed and took Rylee to the rodeo while grandma Judi stayed with Dax. Thank goodness for her, we were still able to take Rylee to do everything. After the rodeo, we watched the Salina fireworks, which is ALWAYS a great show. Salina has some of the best fireworks around by far!

And of course it didn't end with that. We also went on a 4-wheeler ride and let off our own fireworks. This was the first year Rylee actually loved doing sparklers. Last year she was still a little unsure about them, but this year she could not get enough and had in hand at all times.

I absolutely LOVE this holiday and cannot wait to do it all again next year!