Fourth of July

We had a wonderful Fourth of July celebration this year. We've hosted friends (who are really like family) for the holiday for the last three years, and it's turning into one of my favorite days of the whole year.

We did a little bit of prep on Wednesday, and the boys helped me make a yummy patriotic snack.

On the Fourth we had swim lessons, and afterward we came back and swam at our pool with the Shondelmyers until lunchtime.

Sweet girl was decked out in her red, white, and blue.  She's our little firecracker for sure!

We ordered pizza for lunch and we all rested/ had some downtime that afternoon. Well except for the guys- they worked on the pergola all afternoon.

Matt had bought some boards to attach extra hand holds to make a climbing wall on our fence. Nathan, Samuel, and Elisabeth painted them earlier in the week, and they all helped install the handholds during the afternoon before the rest of our friends came over.

I did manage to get a picture of my four Cuties on the Fourth. They make holidays extra fun.

And we even managed to get a group picture of all 13 kiddos. They are such a great group of kids. I'm grateful my kids have so many special friendships.

The guys grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner- classic Fourth of July food.

After dinner everyone headed outside for fireworks. The kids lit smoke bombs and a few other small things waiting for it to get darker outside.

These girls are such blessings to me. I've been friends with them for over a decade.  I couldn't do this mom thing without them.I treasure their friendships

We took a silly picture acting like our kids do when we try and take pictures of them :)

 We even managed to get a picture of the guys too. Matt randomly decided that a pellet gun competition would be fun. I think it was for them.

Lots of smoke bombs. The kids all loved running through the smoke.

We had a few other fun fireworks that the dads lit for the kids. They loved them!

When it got darker, we busted out the LED finger lights and sparklers. I always want to remember the view of watching the kids running around wearing their lights.

Our neighbors also do a great job of entertaining us with fireworks. They shoot them off all around us, and we just enjoy the views.

We had such a fun night with our friends. I love that we're creating these traditions with our kids. They're creating memories they'll remember forever, and we are too.