Peace...Love....Happiness

Red...White...Blue

Liberty Belles

I love the 4th of July. It is one of my most favorite holidays. I am thankful for people, like my grandfather, who dedicated their lives to fighting for our freedom, and I love getting to take a day to celebrate them. I love getting the girls dressed up in their red, white and blue...watching the parade, taking pictures, swimming, going to the carnival, watching the fireworks...it is just a fantastic day! :)

The whole gang BEFORE the parade
Kelsi, Annalise, Kami Aidan, Mia-Kate, Ella, Harrison, and Kylie

After snapping a few pictures, we walked down and got everyone situated to watch the parade. We put blankets down on the ground and set up chairs. The kids were so excited. We were all excited because it was nice outside...not hot at all, and we were thankful that we weren't all dying of heat...

THEN, the bottom of the sky dropped out, about 30 minutes into the parade...OH MY WORD. There was not a dry place on anyone. Buckets, and buckets of rain...and all of us, with the kids, at the parade, with chairs, blankets, strollers...needless to say, by the time we walked back to the house, we had to strip all the kids and put all their clothes in the dryer. So thankful we got pictures BEFORE they all looked like drowned rats!

The pouring rain!

We went back home and ate lunch, swam (after the rain stopped) and had a great day. We played and played until around 7 when we changed clothes, and went back over to get ready for the fireworks.

Fireworks sisters

We walked back over to the park (this time, without getting drenched!) and watched the fireworks. The girls loved it. This was the first year Ella really paid attention. She loved watching and kept pointing and saying "light". Such a great day!

Sea World...DAY 3!

We went back to Sea World on Friday...this time, we decided to be smart and spend most of the day at the water park! Much cooler! The kids had a BLAST! There were several different pools that the smaller kids could play in with things to climb on, slides, and squirt toys. There were also bigger slides and rides that the older kids could do too! It was super fun!

Annalise and Miss Lori...BEFORE the Sea World trip...notice how clean and put together they look!

Mia going down one of the slides

Ella LOVED the water...she was sad to leave

Annalise going down one of the slides

All in all we had a GREAT time on vacation. The kids loved Sea World and liked getting to see the riverwalk. :) We'll see what's in store for next year's adventure!

San Antonio....DAY 2!

On Thursday in San Antonio we decided to take a break from Sea World and spend some time downtown! We took the kids to eat at Fuddruckers and the toured the Alamo...complete with a guided history lesson tour from Ryan.

Family photo Downtown :)

Group pic in the gardens outside the Alamo

All the kiddos...Annalise, Mia-Kate, Ella, Harrison, and Aidan

Kari, me and Lori :)

Mommy and Mia-Kate looking at the huge fish!

After we were done at the Alamo, we took the kids to shop around the Riverwalk and the Riverwalk mall...we ended the day with a ride on the Riverboats. The kids thought it was neat so ride the boat and see all the buildings and ducks.

Sweet sisters...Ella was a trouper missing her naps and still going!

Fading fast...

Our sweet friend, Lori came with us to San Antonio to offer another set of hands, and to stay with the kiddos so we could go on date nights! We had a fun double date with Mike and Kari on the river Thursday night. We ate Mexican food at Rio Rio and then walked around for a while...and completed the evening with dessert at The Hardrock Cafe. It was great to be able to go out and have "grown up time" without needing to worry about naps and sippy cups! Thanks Lori!