4th of July

We had a super fun 4th of July!! It's becoming one of my favorite days of the year.

We started celebrating a few days early with Rockets over Rhema. Our pharmacy hosted a little watch party with inflatables, snow cones and hot dogs. The kids found their friends and we had a fun night.

Last year we started the tradition of hosting a fun Fourth of July party with some of our closest friends, so the day before we got ready by baking a fun red, white, and blue cake.

We had swim lessons the morning of the 4th. It was extra fun because the dads were able to join us and the kids got to show off everything they'd been learning. Elisabeth even went off the high dive for the first time that day.

After swim lessons we all went to lunch at Chick Fil A, and then went back to our house to change clothes and head to the pool. The kids had fun swimming with their friends for the afternoon.

After the pool everyone needed some downtime. All the girls ended up on our bed watching a show and the boys disappeared upstairs.

All the kids had to help decorate our Fourth of July cake.

They did a great job :)

We grilled burgers and hot dogs for dinner

And had cake for dessert.

After dinner we all headed outside for the evening to play and watch fireworks.

I love that these kids are growing up together and sharing these memories. They are all family to us.

We bought a few small things for the kids- pop its, smoke bombs and sparklers. I don't know how many more years we can get away with the little fireworks.

Our neighborhood puts on a great show. There were fireworks all around us- some got a little too close to our roof, ha! It was fun to sit and watch the fireworks and the kids running all around playing.

Matt found these finger lights on Amazon for a great price and saved them for the Fourth of July. The kids loved them. It was funny watching all the lights darting around the back yard.

This was my favorite moment of the night. She came and snuggled up in my lap and fell asleep. Gosh, I loved those cuddles. She hardly naps and never sits still, so I soaked up every bit of her sweetness.

I'm so grateful to live in America and so very grateful for my family and our awesome friends that made this holiday so great!