4th of July 2014

Oh man, I LOVE the 4th of July. It is by a long shot my absolute favorite holiday. And that was even before I had kids...now it's just amazing. Every holiday just gets a little more fun every year, the older Emery gets, the more kids we have. It just keeps getting better and better. I love it! Here is a run down of our super crazy fun day. 

We started off the day bright and early with Emery running the Freedom Run. It's just a kids 1K fun run. Jake was also supposed to run in the 5k...but long story short, he didn't. And he's pretty bummed about it. But next year! Plus he has his half marathon coming up in a couple weeks. But anyway, Jake has been super excited about signing Emery up for this. Her very favorite thing to do these days is go running with Jake. She asks every day if he will take her running. And by take her I don't mean push her in the stroller...she legitimately likes him to take her to the track and let her run with him. It's great. So we signed her up! This is what I got when I asked her to show me her number ;)

She was ready to go as soon as she got her number on she was at the start line waiting. She got a little impatient after a while...

Doing some practice starts ;)

Getting some instructions. 

And they were off. 

 

Coming up on the finish line. 

Macie just hung out with me while we waited. 

Crossing the finish line! Wahoo! She got a medal and some fruit snacks. She was pretty pumped about both. 

After the run we headed home and had some breakfast and got ready for the day. Then headed back to the park for the parade. 

Emery was so sweet and would take candy to Macie if she got more than one. Seriously that girl is the sweetest thing in the world. 

We also did some pedicures that morning before the parade. 

After the parade we just went to the activities in the park. There was a BBQ and we got some hot dogs and hamburgers for lunch. We also got a Hakulia shaved ice. Seriously amazing. The best snow cone in the world. They had bounce houses, train rides, and games for the kids. And we of course couldn't leave the park with out some time on the swings....

By the time we got home these kids were BEAT. Macie couldn't even keep her eyes open. I don't think I've ever seen the poor girl so tired. So they laid down for a nap. 

My whole family went to California for the 4th, we couldn't go with me being 36 weeks pregnant, but while they were gone we had to take care of the kitties and the pigs. So after naps we headed up to their house to feed the animals. I decided to get some cute 4th of July pictures of the girls while Jake was feeding them. Seriously I don't think there are cuter kids on the planet than these two right here. I could just eat them up. 

After feeding the animals, we headed home to feed ourselves. We had grilled teriyaki Chicken, grilled corn on the cob, and watermelon. And homemade popsicles for dessert! 

The popsicles were a big hit...

We bought a few small fireworks to do at home before the big firework show. They were a big disappointment...none of them really worked too great. But this party popper Emery got at the parade was a hit!

After that we headed to get a good seat at the city fireworks. There is a playground right there too so we played and played and played. It's basically in the center of the town so we could see all of the fireworks that everyone was letting off while we were there waiting. Emery sat right there and watched them for a long time. 

Then we got out our sparklers and let the girls do them. They both absolutely love them. Jake even let Macie hold her own this time. 

This is what it looks like trying to get a picture of them while there are fireworks going in the background...

Ahhh a little better..... 

We were kind of worried how Macie would do during the fireworks, but other than jumping when the first one went off, she loved them. She laid right and Jake and watched the whole show. Neither her or Emery moved a muscle, which is absolutely unheard of...

We went home and went straight to bed! Macie was asleep before we even got out of the parking lot. It had definitely been a long, exhausting day. But oh so good! I seriously love this holiday. I'm so grateful for all of the veterans out there who have fought for our country and our freedoms. We are so blessed to live in the greatest country. Hope you all had a good 4th of July too!