Independence Day 2017 (July 4)

We started Independence Day with some sprinkle doughnuts and juice and a lazy morning, after what must be deemed as the busiest week ever!

I put together our grocery list for the week, then got ready and took the big boys with me out to first pick up our family portraits from Heather at Red Barn Photography about 20 minutes out of town. Afterwards, we hit the grocery store, then made our way home for lunch.

After lunch, we got our things together and made our way to Fairmont Aquatic Park for the afternoon. We got there around 2pm and swam until 5. The boys had a BLAST, although little Mr. Ryan wore us out, seeing as how he was a big boy now, and didn't want anyone touching him. He kept trying to walk in the probably 18 inches of water and kept falling over and over and over again, so I had to stay REALLY close to him and couldn't just plop down in the water anywhere...for 3 hours. Oy! Needless to say, no time whatsoever to take pictures of them having SO MUCH FUN! We all made it out alive (and happy), then got dressed and took a few pictures outside in our patriotic gear.

After the water park, we had supper at The Ranch, which was pretty good, then got home in time for a nice, early bedtime for the kids, who DESPERATELY needed it after being up so late the night before. It was a good day, but we were all tuckered out.

Worthington and Beach Bash 2017 (July 3)

After an insanely busy week, we were so glad to have a little time off for the 4th of July this year. I did work during the day, but after my 36 week OB appointment, we made our way down to Worthington for supper with Mark's Dad, Pam, Jess and Grandma Vi. We were supposed to also have Daniel join us, but he got stuck in Sioux Falls with car trouble, so we didn't get to see him. We didn't get there until almost 6pm, since my normally very quick appointment lasted over an hour, putting us leaving 45 minutes later than anticipated.

We were so thankful that after such a busy week and weekend prior, Kent and Pam were so sweet as to provide the whole meal for us, so we didn't have to prep anything or pick anything up. THANK YOU, guys! The cheeseburgers were delicious, and so was the rest of the meal!

I'm so thankful for these guys! And seriously - when did Cashel grow up so much that he's now posing like a cool dude?

We made it over to Beach Bash around 8pm and stayed through the fireworks display at dusk, which were beautiful! The big kids could hardly wait long enough in line for their rainbow ice cream cones.

One of our regular traditions for Beach Bash is that each of the boys get a rainbow ice cream cone. Next year, Ryan will probably get his own, but this year, he just shared a little of Cashel's. Kendrick OWNED his this year, which wasn't surprising lol

We ran into the Studes at the ice cream stand and had the kiddos "pose" (ha! 4 kids ages 5 and 3?) with their cones.

We didn't get to visit with them for too long, as we had set up in different areas for the concert, and well...this Mama was just too tuckered out to go stand for longer than the half hour it took standing in line for the ice cream cones.

Grandpa Kent joined us around 9pm for the rest of the concert!

Last year I finally learned how to shoot fireworks with my DSLR, and the results this year were stunning! I get this burst of pride every time I look at these!

After the fireworks, we ended up losing Cashel for a good 10 minutes, which was terrifying! We told him it was time to go, saw him come up from throwing rocks into the lake, and then turned around and he was gone. He had apparently gone to where he thought the van still was, a good quarter of a mile away, and then, not seeing it, turned around and came back, where a nice police officer found him. I swear this kid is going to get lost for good one day! We need to look into a GPS tracking device for him, I think!

We really had a pretty great day together! I was completely exhausted afterwards, what with being SO pregnant at this point. I'm looking forward to celebrating with a fourth little one next year!!

Independence Day (July 4)

To begin our 4th of July, we started by thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in! With our busy weekend, we had been required to be up and out the door by 9:30am both mornings, and up significantly earlier to prep and pack things. We were so pleased to finally sleep in a bit and lounge around.

Ryan and I were the first ones up, and I thought I'd snap a picture or two of him with his little holiday sticker before big brothers were up and ready for their day.

It was mere seconds after I took of the sticker that Cashel was in Ryan's room ready to snuggle in and watch a little Paw Patrol with his baby brother.

The meal plan stipulated doughnuts for breakfast, so I took the older boys with me to the grocery store to pick some out :) Is it any surprise that they picked ones with fancy sprinkles?

I like to stick to the ones with Bavarian creme filling ;)

This kid is going to have a seriously hard time giving up this habit :( We keep trying and trying and trying to take his fingers out of his mouth, but I think it's a lost cause :(

The morning and afternoon were fairly uneventful, and before we knew it, we settled into naps (or at least, so we thought). We were glad that the kiddos took nice long naps, as we were planning to stay up for fireworks that evening.

However, on the way down to Worthington, we began to question if Cashel was, indeed, napping the entire 2.5 hours he was in his bedroom, because a couple minutes down the road, we thought he seemed awfully quiet. We turned around to find this :)

He wouldn't budge when we made it to Worthington 30 minutes later, so we're assuming that the nap for him was a facade.

Twenty minutes later, however, he was all smiles to snuggle with Aunt Jess :)

We enjoyed a nice supper of brats and hot dogs on the grill with baked beans, potato salad and fresh fruit together, thanks to Dad and Pam :)

The boys were ready to go for a walk afterwards, so I took them down to the park for a bit while everyone else finished up their meal, then made our way back to the house just in time to avoid a meltdown from Ryan as he was ready to eat again.

As an aside: This is what you get when you try to get these guys to look at the camera and smile lol It only takes about 15 outtakes most of the time to get a picture that's worth posting.

The boys wanted to go for another walk, so I went with these skinny minnies for walk #2 :) Seriously - they both look so great!

Cashel sure does love his Jess :) Kendrick had started out in the stroller, and none of us realized he didn't have his shoes on until he decided he no longer wanted to sit in the stroller. I think we're probably going to go through a LOT of socks by the time Ryan is grown!

After our walk, we went back to the house for some yummy dessert, including my FAVORITE cookies!

We said our goodbyes a little later and made our way on over to Centennial Park again to meet up with the Studes for a bit before the fireworks started. It was another jacket weather night (coolest temps for a 4th of July that I can remember), but set set up our camp near the shore and snuggled up for the fireworks :)

I was so giddy to have finally discovered how to shoot fireworks using my DSLR camera. Some of the shots were kinda boring (i.e. there weren't many fireworks that went off in the 30 second window I was capturing), but some were stunning!

Things got a little sketchy after the fireworks. The boys, who weren't all that interested in supper, decided they were super hungry about halfway through the display. They held off alright until we got into the van, but poor Ryan was just plain exhausted and over-tired and just done. He screamed until we got to McDonald's and I got him out and fed him and got him to sleep while the big boys ate their cheeseburgers. Then, about halfway home, although Kendrick had conked out quickly, Cashel was fit to be tied. He cried from Heron Lake home until we got him tucked into his bed. At 11:30pm. Oy! I'm glad this only happens once a year ;)