4th of July 2016 & a video

Our 4th of July could not have been more fun this year with my family! Prepare yourself for a picture heavy post as usual. ;) The festivities started off on Friday night when my dad and step-mom came from Colorado. We spent the evening catching up in the backyard while Liam played with their dog, Gertie. He loves dogs but from a distance so it took him a little while to warm up to her. In the mean time he was cracking us all up by face planting into Gertie's dog bed over and over again! haha We left on Saturday morning for Meridian but Nic, Liam, and I made a pit stop on the way to see our friends, the Lee family. They took us to the Sandwich Company for lunch (so yummy!) and our husbands finally got a chance to meet!

The guys weren't the only ones meeting for the first time. Dani, Ryan, and Decker just welcomed a baby girl into their family! Baby Avery is an absolute doll! She gave me some serious baby fever!!! ;)

Saturday evening we had a belated birthday celebration for me with my mom. We went out to dinner at one of my favorite places, Olive Garden, and then had ice cream, played on the playground, and saw the water fountain at The Village. Liam LOVED going down the slide!

We stayed up talking late on Saturday night like we usually do and started getting ready for bed around midnight. Just as we were sliding underneath the covers and turning out the light we heard a loud knock at the door. Nic popped out of bed to see what was going on and as he opened up the door all I could hear was MY BROTHER'S VOICE!!! We had NO idea he was coming home for the 4th and it was the BEST surprise ever! My mom literally screamed when he opened up her bedroom door! haha It made for the perfect weekend to have all of our family together.

On Sunday we went to my dad's church service with his side of the family. It was a blast getting all of the cousins together! I made everyone french toast, flag fruit skewers. and eggs for brunch! We also took a bunch of family pictures together but I'm bummed they were all on my dad's camera so I don't have any to share right now. 

Later Sunday evening we took Liam over to Settler's Park to play in a splash pad and he didn't like it at all. I guess it wasn't a hug surprise to me though considering he isn't a fan of water coming down at him from above. If it had been stagnant water like a little pool he would have been all over it! The swings and the slides won his heart there instead.

The morning of the 4th my mom pulled out this adorable dump truck toy that her neighbor's gave her before they moved (thanks so much Hamman family!) and he went up and down the driveway on it with a big grin on his face over and over again.

After lunch time we headed to my step-brother Josh's in-law's house. They have an awesome backyard with a big pool! Liam was napping most of the time while we were there so we played a few games of corn hole, ate some great appetizers, and enjoyed lots of good company before he woke up to go swimming!

With some help from a sweet friend with a cricut machine (I'm looking at you Amanda!), I made Liam this "Babe Watch" shirt last minute for the 4th. That and his cut off denim shorts, he looked absolutely adorable that day!

You would not believe what it took to get this family picture. Poor Nic looks a little worn out and flush from having to run laps around my mom's yard with Liam on his shoulders to get him to smile. Oh the things parents do to get a family picture. haha I sure love mine though and my patient mom for being the photographer!

Sita (what Liam calls my mom) sure has a fun backyard to play in!

Liam was obsessed with this watering can and helping Sita water all of her plants. 

I adore these two ...

As my mom was shaking a branch and saying "Liam, look at this bush!", an angry bird dove at Liam's head. haha Sure enough, there was a nest in the bush my mom was shaking. If you mess with momma bird's offspring, she'll mess with yours I guess. haha His face was priceless ...

After dinner just about every day we were there, Liam would finish WAY before the rest of us and would immediately want to get down so we would buy a few extra minutes with a firecracker popsicle. ;)

That and this yummy fruit pizza I made for dessert on the 4th!

We started on fireworks a little early so we could get that cute little someone to bed at a decent hour. Knowing how much of a daredevil Liam usually is, we were surprised to discover that he really didn't love fireworks. Every time Nic would light one and it would go off he'd yell, "NO!" with that furrowed brow, worried eyes, and pouty lip expression he gives when he isn't happy about a situation. haha He would run the other direction with sparklers too.

Sita's phone on the other hand, now that was a fun activity! haha

Liam did love snappers/pop its! He would throw one at the ground to pop it and then run to try and pick up the wrapper to throw it again. haha He did not understand they couldn't be thrown twice in a row. We also caught him wanting to put them in his mouth. Watch for it in the video. haha

Such a good boy helping daddy clean up the snappers boxes.

The sparklers my brother bought were kind of duds and mostly just a big flame that would burn out in a few seconds like my mom's on the left ... Better luck next year in the sparkler department! 

With the crazy wind that started out the night, we were seriously questioning our decision making skills when we lit these smoke bombs and inhaled a pile of horrible smelling smoke. haha 

Tuesday was our last full day in town. Nic had to work for part of the day so he stayed home with Liam during his nap and my brother, mom, and I went out to lunch and shopping at The Village. It felt like old times just the three of us.

When Liam woke up from his nap we all went to Roaring Springs Water Park! Bren and I hadn't been there since elementary school/early middle school. We reminisced about surfing the lazy river with goggles looking for and collecting random change we found. Then pooling the money together and buying mini corn dogs or a dip n' dots to share. haha 

Even though Liam spent most of the time shivering while we there, he had an absolute blast and so did the rest of us! We floated the lazy river together, splashed in the wave pool, and took turns taking Liam down a little yellow slide! 

That life jacket was killing me. haha So cute!

Uncle Bren trying to get Liam to eat his corn dog ...

At the very end of our day at the water park, Nic and Brendan decided they wanted to go down these ridiculously crazy slides were you step inside a tube and the floor drops out from underneath you and sails you down the slide. It looked crazy intense! We cheered them on and watched from the bottom of the slides.