T'was a Grand Ol' Day....

Why is it that holidays are always better when a little family is involved? This Fourth of July, we really had the family stuff going on. I don't remember exactly what day it was, but Mom had the grand idea of inviting as much of the family to come celebrate as we could. Amazingly, everyone was available!! What fun. And fun is exactly what we had. We had fun packed in there from morning until very late at night. I will say that we did have some work in there. But, there is something about work before a party.....it almost doesn't seem like work.

To start the day off, my kids were excited to spend some time shooting off bb guns. Caden literally spent hours out there shooting that thing. He was bound and determined to master that thing. He really can be tenacious when he wants to be. I shot a couple of times....it was fun. My dad sent the gun home with Tim....so now maybe I can get the cats that like to do their business in my flower beds.



Isn't it cute that they are all wearing tie-dye shirts? That was their project the night before. I think they had fun....

Personally, I think the best part of family gatherings....or any gatherings for that matter....is the food. Considering the fact that we all had just a couple of days to plan....we really had a feast that day. On days like that, I wish that I had an Extend0-Stomach....and that all calories were null and void. Since that isn't the case, I just ate myself silly.


For Tim to really enjoy food, he has the mentality of calories-in/calories out. So, the kids, and the Men-Folk gathered together and played an old-fashioned game of kickball. The last couple of years, when my family has been together for vacation, we have played kickball. Kind of a fun way for us all to get involved without too much stress. Tradition!! I ended up not playing....I was torn between visiting family I don't see all that often....and taking pictures. Though I must say, the pictures really don't capture the joy of the game......


I have to laugh at the above picture. If you notice, that is Daria's leg that is mimicking Kyle's kick. I see her do that all the time out on the soccer field. I think she wants to be in the action all the time....which isn't possible....so she pretends. Cracks me up. I'll bet she will be one of those Moms who opens their own mouth when they are spoon feeding their babies. I'm going to catch that on film some day!

During the kickball game, Caden had the good luck, or bad luck all depending on how you look at it, of losing one of his teeth. Truly, he lost his tooth. That little bugger of a tooth went flying out of his mouth....only to get lost in the wilds of the grass. I spent quite some time looking for that dirty little bugger with no luck at all. Caden was devastated...and a bribe of twice the amount of money didn't keep him from falling apart. A while later, he finally let me take a picture of his gaping hole. Notice the other tooth that is dangling......it has yet to fall out. Ugh.



As luck should have it, Tim and I had a few tricks up our sleeves for entertaining the gaggle of kids. Actually, we had brought them along to share amongst our smaller family....but it was nice that it was able to spread around to the extended family. Tim brought out his balloon rockets again....and the kids had a blast. It was fun watching them giggle and chase their balloons all over the field.

I had brought along some Mentos and Diet Pepsi to do a little "experiment" for the kids. I had done it at our Power Lab vacation bible school the week before and my kids thought it was a blast. I thought it was too. So, we had fun sharing.

The kids thought it was fun to drink the pop after the explosion was done. Yuck. I'm pretty sure that Mint Diet Coke is not the next up and coming flavor.


And what would the Fourth of July be with out a few fireworks? Between my cousin and I, we were able to keep the kids entertained for quite some time. It was also nice that several places around my parents' house were setting off some pretty impressive fireworks, too. It made for a pleasant evening, to sit there around the campfire, talking with family, enjoying the fireworks and the kids' excitement, without the hassle of dealing with crowds.

Of course, there were the traditional sparklers:




Then...there were the Mongo Sparklers. (Didn't even know that they made things like this!!!!)




It was a great day that went out with a bang....or two....or three.....