4th of July 2012

I hope all you Americans had a nice 4th of July holiday. We sure did. The weather here in the Seattle area has been especially rainy, but we finally got some sun just in time for the holiday. Half the time it rains on the 4th. It was nice to be able to enjoy the yard for the second year in a row. We had an old-fashioned 4th of July potluck barbecue. It's looking like this tradition is here to stay.

Evie put together our 4th of July pages  to welcome our guests, all by herself. Nice job Evie!

I just got this outdoor rug and I LOVE it! It's so nice for Ainsley's kneesies.

Ainsley had so much fun crawling under the table and helping herself to chips and veggies.  What a cutie!

 

Finally I have a yard big enough to play croquet. Too bad I was too busy hosting to play.

Of course that didn't stop Steve.

 My sun loving guests lounging in the front yard.

Yummmmm!

The girls went in the hot tub. Later the boys joined in. Poor Ainsley. Always on the fringe.

Adrian directed a game of Simon Says.

 The kids had a blast with old fashioned sparklers.

I made sure Steve helped Ainsley do one. She wasn't so sure about it though and when we asked if she wanted to do a second one she signed "done". She seemed confused. Like, "So today I can play with fire? Isn't this dangerous?!"

We took all the kids to the street to do bees, flowers, crakling crazy ground hogs and turtles.

The men with their fire power.

There were just enough sparks at times to keep the kids on their toes.

We were able to setup seats on the patio to view our small firework display on the lawn.

This one got a little high!

The kids loved this panda bear one even if he was small he was cute.

After everyone left I laid on the lounge chair on the patio with the kids listening to music.   People in the neighborhood were lighting off fireworks well until midnight, the smell of smoke hung heavy in the night air. The kids were so tired from so much fun. That moment alone was worth all the cooking, cleaning, weeding and yard prep. Steve left us after a bit to tidy up.  We look forward to doing it again next year so if you are in our area you'll have to stop by.