4th of July - Finally

I've got 45 minutes to post 4th of July pictures under the month of July. So forgive me if I don't write a whole lot. But for some strange reason I feel the need to have it posted in July. Maybe I shouldn't wait three weeks to post then should I??

*We spent the first part of the holiday in Hagerstown with Scottie's parents. We bought some fireworks on our way through Indy and Grace wanted her cousin Dalton to come over. She really likes playing with him. He is Scottie's first cousin, so I guess that makes him her second cousin. They are only about a year and a half a part. The top pictures show them playing with sparklers. This is a big improvement since Grace was scared to use them last year. Avery stayed up to watch it all. Fireworks don't seem to bother her. She just likes to be with everyone. She is such a sweet baby.


My little patriotic cuties. I love having two girls because you get to coordinate outfits for them. I'm sure you still can if you have both genders, but it's a lot of fun with girls!

Our little family. Except Scottie and I don't look so little. This isn't the best picture of us, but we don't get a picture of all four of us very often. I need to remember to take more family pictures.

Grace and her cousin Chloe riding together to the carnival. It reminds me of all the times I rode in Amanda's mini-van when we were little. Except the girls weren't reenacting scenes from The Karate Kid. Wax on, wax off....

Ready to ride the rides that were put together by a group of carnies, who were probably smoking and trying to shake off the morning hangover while tightening all the nuts and bolts. I know I'm stereotyping carnival workers, but honestly, have you taken a good look at the men who run the rides?? I can't believe I don't hyperventilate when I let Grace get on those things.


The twirling bear, aka: nightmare for my mother. She rode on it last year with the kids and it made her a tad bit sick. Needless to say she did not ride it with them this year.


Miss Avery picking up ducks for the first time. I think she just wanted to play in the water. She is such a water baby!

This is her prize. She's looking at Nana like "what am I suppose to do with this thing?" Unfortunately it didn't even make it back home before it deflated. But that's the tradition when it comes to carnival prizes; balloons deflate and goldfish die within 24 hours. It just helps children learn the valuable lesson of disappointment. Thank you carnival industry!


Scottie was a brave soul and took Grace, Chloe, and Dylan on the Gravitron. I don't know how many times Amanda and I went on this ride when we were younger. We couldn't go this year because she's pregnant with baby Gabe and I'm pretty sure I would throw up or pass out. :)

Here they are coming out of the Gravitron. Oddly enough it looks like the same one we rode twenty years ago. Again, why do I trust these rides with my precious baby??

I was waiting for their reaction. I got a lot of jumping up and down and squeals of "that was awesome!!" Just look at the excitement from Chloe! ;)


After the carnival we had a family pool party at the park pool. It was fun but a bit chilly. Here is Avery with my cousin Meriel. Can you believe that I use to babysit Meriel when she was Avery's age? At the time I didn't think anything about it, I loved babysitting her. But now when I think about it makes me a nervous wreck. How did I know how to take care of a baby? I did a pretty good job... except for the time that I lost her in the mall. Luckily she was an extremely bright five year old and went to the security desk to let them know she was lost and then told them her phone number. I can only imagine what a horrible feeling her mom had when the mall called her to tell her that her daughter was there by herself. Thankfully we found her and it all turned out fine. I will never forget that day. Sorry Meriel!!! I'm glad that you are still nice to me. :)

Do I even need to say that Grace had a good time?

I love this picture of Mom and Avery. She looks like she wants to say something, but just can't get it out.

We came back home the night of the 4th. We were able to see the fireworks from our kitchen window. It was pretty neat.

Now you may be wondering why I don't have any pictures from my Dad's house, or why I look like total crap?? Well the answer to both of those questions is that I spent the entire day throwing up. To say that it was awful would be an understatement. I started feeling sick at the carnival, but I just chalked it up to the 20 pounds of smoke I was enforced to inhale from all the classy Brazilians who chain smoked throughout the carnival. But by the time we got out of the pool I knew something wasn't right. We got back to Mom's and the real fun began. Everyone felt bad for me and said that they hoped I would feel better. Little did we know that within the next couple of days half of the family would join the party in the bathroom. It is the worst feeling ever!!! I don't know how else to describe it. I felt really bad that so many of us got sick. It came on so fast that I didn't even know to stay away from anyone. The only positive thing that happened was that Grace and Avery didn't get sick. Scottie and I were so wore down it would have been hard to take care of them too.

Sickness aside, it was a fun holiday. I hope we get to make our annual trip to the carnival next year. We don't know where we will be, or if it will be close enough to come back for the 4th. I would hate to miss all of the fun. Hopefully we won't share a stomach bug next time!