4th of July

The 4th of July continues to be one of my favorite holidays. I love everything about it- the warm weather, the patriotic colors, the parades, the BBQs, swimming, fireworks, patriotic songs, etc. We started off the day going to our ward's annual 4th of July Breakfast. The boys were so excited to decorate their bikes and ride in the bike parade.

Max loved wearing his hat and riding around in the wagon.

I have to give credit to Jon for helping the boys decorate their bikes and the wagon at 7:30 that morning since we got home at midnight the night before from our waterski trip (pictures to come). They did a great job!

We couldn't get the boys to leave after it was all over- they just wanted to keep riding around in the parade!

Our attempt at a family picture!

After the ward breakfast we came home and the boys and I made our traditional sugar cookies. They're really into making silly faces in pictures right now!

They helped me roll them out and cut them into stars. They then helped me frost them.

The finished product (okay, these are the ones that I frosted, but I did let them frost a few)!

After the cookies were done we headed up the street for our annual neighborhood party. The boys rode in another bike parade. This time all of the kids lined up and then rode up and down the street at the same time instead of calling them one by one like they did at the ward party.

Jake and Nathan were a little confused by this and they just sat there for a minute while all of the headed down the street! They finally figured it out and rode around for a while.

They then had a water balloon toss and Jake and Nathan got 4th place- thanks to a balloon that wouldn't pop no matter how many times they dropped it!

I made my traditional flag cake to take out to my parent's house for dessert. Unfortunately they ended up making homemade ice cream and everyone got full on that. So we ended up just dividing the cake out at the end of the night for everyone to take home- bummer!

We then headed out to my parent's house for swimming and a BBQ. The kids swam for hours. Nathan had fun playing with Laney and Jack the whole time.

This is how Jake jumped into the pool every time. Thank goodness for his life jacket that absorbed some of the pain from the belly flop! By the end of the day Jake's poor little eyes were really red and swollen. I think we might be taking a break from swimming for a few days until they get better!

Max and his cousin, Scotty, had a great time swimming together in the little baby pool.

Love this smile!

Max discovered that he loves BBQed corn!

My dad said that when he was a kid he and his brothers would always fight over who got to lick the paddle after they made homemade ice cream. He finally got his chance and he had the face to prove it!

That night we headed out to Christy's house in Ladera Ranch and watched the fireworks from her backyard. While we were waiting for them to start Will had fun pushing Max in the little car- it was so cute!

We all hung out in the backyard until they started and once the first firework went off Jake freaked out as usual. So Jon took him up to Christy's bathroom and played on the iphone with him so that he couldn't hear anything. We were really hoping that this would be the year that Jake wouldn't be afraid of the fireworks, but no such luck!

Overall, it was a busy, fun filled day. I feel so blessed to live in America and enjoy the freedoms that we have. I always get a little teary eyed listening to Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American" song because it makes me feel so lucky and proud to live here. I hope that everyone else had a happy and safe 4th of July!