4th of July

We hung out close to home this year for 4th of July.  

There were two nights of fireworks this year, one set on the 3rd and the other on the 4th.  In order to try and avoid a super late night for the kiddos, we decided to do our at-home fireworks and then try to chase the beach fireworks from far away (which were on the 3rd).

We started off with some 'pop-its' and snakes.

Jason bought a small kit of actual {but tame} fireworks.  They drew some varied responses...

Quin loved them!

I didn't get a picture of Easton, but he loved them too.

Ellery liked to watch, but thought they were way too loud.

And then there was G :(  She was NOT a fan, and needed a lot of persuasion to come back to watch.

After a short while, they all enjoyed them - from the comfort of my lap.

I saw this idea on Pinterest  - brilliant!

It put me at ease, while the kids loved the sparklers!

We then loaded into the car to chase the fireworks.  I had hoped to find a place to see the fireworks well, but not get trapped in the traffic afterwards.  We were pretty unsuccessful.  :(  We could see them, but it was pretty far away - we will do better next year!

Ellery and Gianna passed out while we were looking.

We hung around our house on the 4th, while my parents came over!  

I saw this idea on Pinterest, but did not pin it and can't find the original post now.  My kids love blueberries, watermelon and marshmallows - so I knew these would be a hit.  When the kids woke up, they helped me thread the skewers and cut the watermelon.  It was great for their fine motor and pattern practice, and I loved how Quin decided to change the pattern for a few of them! (And, as you can tell by the bottom right wand, a certain little boy would rather eat his marshmallows than thread them!)

It was an incredibly hot day, so we beat the heat with water activities.  

They had been bugging me for days to blow up water balloons.  We blew up the balloons and used the cornhole boards as targets.

My mom brought some new books and the kids were more than happy to listen to her read - in the shade!

My last Pinterest try for the day were layered patriotic drinks.  My kids were SO excited (mainly because they are usually only allowed to drink milk and water).  I tried a few different red, white and blue combinations, but they were all failures :(  The kids didn't mind though - they chugged them faster than I could blink.