Independence Day

Our fourth of July weekend was PACKED. We started out, of course, with the West Point parade.

Ari was showing off her red, white, and blue nail polish (Lexi had the same).

Lexi showing off her battle wound. She thought it was a lot worse than it was.

Stealing my sunglasses.

We killed time with the snap it things.

I told the kids that people wouldn't throw candy if they didn't wave. The girls waved tirelessly the entire time.

The float people had to have two people holding the eagle down so they didn't take out any power lines.

Check out how full Lexi's bag of candy is. All of my kids left with their bags that full.

So, funny story about this guy. (Zoom in to see him better. He really is a cutie.) When he got to us, he was chuckling at how hard the girls were waving, but Lexi just knew he was chuckling out of love for her. Seriously. She said that he was really cute and she would probably marry him. I hope his wife doesn't mind. ;)

After that, we headed to my mom's house for a BBQ and, if I took any pictures, they are on my phone and I don't feel like checking at the moment. :) After the BBQ, we went home for naps, had dinner, and then did fireworks with the neighbors. Everyone there got eaten alive by mosquitoes. Kaden had 23 bites in the short time we were out there! It was miserable.

Saturday we hung out until it was time to head down to Draper to my cousin's house for a BBQ and a massive fireworks show. That was SO much fun and I'll get those pictures off my phone sometime this week. Probably. 

Sunday, after church and naps, we headed to Shane's sister, Val's, house for...you guessed it, a BBQ and more fireworks. Val had set up the kiddie pool and a slip 'n slide, though, so the kids entertained themselves for most of the time we were there. It was great. Our kids didn't last long (attention span-wise) with the fireworks because they were just DONE with fireworks by this point (Shane and I were as well). They all crashed on the way home, which means it was a good day. :)

Day Off

Shane had July 3rd off, so we decided to do something fun as a family. We've been pretty boring this summer, so Shane and I decided to surprise the kids with something they've been begging to do for a few months: Chuck-E-Cheese! Of course, we hit Red Robin for lunch first.

My handsome men (who didn't mean to match).

Cutie patootie Lexi Loo.

Ari was being shy.

Caught! I think this was the only thing she "ate." *sigh*

 After eating, we played it up with the kids saying stuff like, "Well, we could go home and take naps...or we could go to CHUCK-E-CHEESE!!" They were SO excited! And since it was the middle of the day, we almost had the place to ourselves.

Teaching Ari how to roll it, not throw it.

She threw it anyway.

Everyone wanted in on the action.

I have no idea which game this was, but look at the concentration on Kaden's face!

Lexi BEGGED to do Rock Band. It was a really bad idea.

Everyone ended up in tears since it really isn't a game meant for a 5 year old.

Prizes!

After collecting their hard-earned prizes, we headed home for late naps. Everyone crashed. :) After short-late naps, we headed to our friends' house (Sam and Jess) for a BBQ, only it was raining! We moved it indoors and the storm passed in 30 minutes, so then we moved it back outside. The kids just played and played and Shane got humped by a (girl) dog. It was hilarious and we all just about died laughing (although Shane didn't see the humor until later). ;)
It was a great day.