Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Our Fourth!

For this week's you capture, I'm linking up my Fourth of July post.
There are many things that America means to me and certainly, living in the DC area, I could have captured many iconic American images, but we were busy with celebrating America in our own small way.
So this post is not so much "what America means to me" as it is about how we celebrated America's birthday.

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I'm sitting at the computer at one a.m. on the 6th of July
and I'm still feeling an excitement high from our wonderful 4th of July.

I had lots of ideas, a few plans, but ultimately the day kind of flowed and we just went with it.
Best way to do it...ever!

We made sure to have lots of special treats for the kids.
Firecraker popsicles...


Yummy strawberries and picnic food.


The cousins enjoyed being together and playing in the pool.
They were in there for five hours, with just a few breaks here and there.


Natalie took charge of filling the water balloons.

Which led to...
A water balloon battle of epic proportions! 

Once they calmed down a bit,
(and took another dip in the pool)
they decorated a jello poke cake with yummy raspberries and blueberries.

It was pretty much unanimously agreed that this was the 
BEST CAKE EVER!
And there were many requests that this be the cake made for their birthday.

The sun began to set ....

So we got out a few glow sticks and sent them all "night swimming."
I think I might have heard a few remarks along the lines of 
"Coolest Mom's EVER!"

Yeah, I'm pretty sure the kids said that, but I might have mentioned it as well. 

Throughout the weekend and even into the day of the fourth,
I did much mental wringing of the hands as I tried to figure out what to do about fireworks.
There were none that I knew of that were close to home,
But I didn't want to fight traffic and crowds to get to a show.
So after a careful poll, it was decided that simple sparklers would suffice.
(This might be my new favorite picture.)

The sparklers were definitely a hit, 
but we were also lucky enough to have a few neighbors that were setting off a few bigger fireworks too.
So from the comfort of the pool and our lawn chairs,
we got to see a fairly nice display of pyrotechnics without the hassle of finding a parking space.

We also got a last minute visit from Natalie's parents 
who had a few low to the ground type fireworks that we set off in our (very dry) backyard.
Fortunately, the grass didn't catch fire, but we did have a hose running and ready
just in case.
I hope everyone else had a wonderful fourth of July.
I've seen that so many of my favorite blogs have put up posts about their 4th's 
and I'm dying to read them all, 
but it's 1:30am and I should be in bed.  
I'm hoping to catch some computer time in the morning before all the kids wake up and want their turn.


Photobucket

22 comments:

Elizabeth said...

How fun! Wish we could have been there to enjoy it with you! We had a pretty relaxing day and then went to one of the fireworks shows nearby with the girls and some friends and had a lot of fun. :D

Alita said...

Your 4th sounds lovely. Nick feels the same about traffic hell after the fireworks. It almost ruins our time (the road rage & the swearing) OH and did I mention the road detours? Or bean suddenly having to go pee-pee in a parking lot traffic jam. Yeah. Fun. You made a good decision to stay home.

Your idea for glow and the dark swimming. Um so cool! Firework pictures are super fun. See there is your night shot. Too bad it is july now. Ha :)

Glad you had a happy 4th.

mothergoose518 said...

How fun! I love the fireworks pictures! I tried to get some with my iPhone but it wouldn't cooperate. Poo!

Dan said...

Great post...I feel like I was there because these faces and the backdrop is so familiar. Night swimming with glow sticks might qualify you for the coolest mom ever that's for sure!

Bec said...

I am so glad you had a great holiday weekend!!! We spent ours traveling and doing laundry and unpacking and it rained for fireworks, but I figure that will make next years that much better!!!

bec@iheart

Suburban Girl said...

GREAT shots. You certainly captured the activity of the day. The water balloons remind me of when my kids were young, we did the same thing.

Jientje said...

You ARE the coolest Mom ever to organize such a erfect day for your kids. The smiling faces really say it all!

Grammie/Mom said...

Did you guys learn to be the coolest moms from your mom? ;0)
Thanks for sharing everything with us. The pics are great. I miss you all!!!!!

Mary said...

Wow, you are the coolest mom ever. How fun is swimming with glow sticks?

Lisa @ Boondock Ramblings said...

I love these photos! Just great! Captures what a fun time you all had!

Yellow House said...

I am filing away "swimming with glow sticks" to my "things I must do as a parent" list. This looks like an amazing day. Love every picture. Every. Single. One.

Unknown said...

What a wonderful day! I would think you would have won major points in the coolest mom ever contest! I never even thought about swimming with glowsticks! How very cool!

EG CameraGirl said...

Your kids look so happy! What a great day!

tiarastantrums said...

looks like your family had one fantastic holiday celebration!

Unknown said...

So many fabulous photos and SO MUCH FUN!! Can I come to your house next year? ;-)

Amber D said...

This is just a fabulous post, what great fun and one amazing picture after the other.

Anonymous said...

Looks like a fun time! I love the pictures at night in the pool with the lights - what a cool idea.

Saj said...

What a fun weekend celebration! I love shots of the water balloon fight! Truly American!

Bunch of Barrons said...

Great shots! Love the ones of the fruit!

Anonymous said...

It's pouring down with rain and freezing cold in my part of the world, so those water balloon shots are giving me goosebumps! Great shots though.

Stillmary said...

What a beautiful variety of American photos! All very interesting and very well captured!

Susan said...

It looks like you had such a great time! I love the glow stick idea for the pool!