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!!

Beach Bash 2016 (July 3)

After a really busy start to our weekend, we finally had the chance to unwind and relax a bit once the boys had their naps and made our way down to Worthington for supper and to enjoy a night at Centennial Park at Beach Bash. Last year was the first year for this event, and we're thrilled that they continued it to this year. We picked up some KFC on the way over to Centennial Park and ate a little picnic supper there at the park. (Although it wasn't that easy, since they didn't include any utensils in the bag).

Chris Hawkey was the entertainment once again, and the highlight of the event for the boys was a fun time running around, and the ginormous ice cream cones we splurged on once again :)

Cashel has been so excited about getting a big "blue rainbow" ice cream cone since last year at Beach Bash. I think this might be a new tradition for the boys ;)

We ran into some of our dearest and oldest friends at the Beach Bash :) Mark and Curt have known each other their entire lives. Nance and I met our freshman year of college, back in September 2000. Catching up is hard to do these days, what with each of us having 3 kiddos all under the age of 5, but it's fun in the little bits that we're able to catch up :)

It's hard to believe these two are 4 months already! It seems like it was just yesterday that they were born.

Beach Bash has become a pretty fun little 3rd of July tradition for us as a family! The boys look forward to it for sure! We dropped the boys off at Grandma and Grandpa's house for a bit after we ate (KFC...without any silverware...which worked about as well as you can imagine with mashed potatoes and gravy and coleslaw haha), then Mark and I came back to catch up with some other friends for a while. It was such a FUN night!