4th of July

7/3 - We kicked off our Fourth of July celebration by watching the fireworks in Slater. They started at 10pm which worried me because my kids go to bed at 8pm but surprisingly they all made it there happy and kept happy the whole time. We took a group picture as we waited for the fireworks to start.

7/3 - I love the picture of Amelia silhouetted in the firework. You can even see her adorable pigtails. I got the idea off a website that told me how to take firework picture, it really helped.

7/3 - My awesome camera has a firework mode. Best thing ever invented if you ask me. It did all the settings for me and all I had to do was point the camera and hold it still for a few seconds while it took some pretty wonderful shots. I love them!

7/3 - More fancy fireworks.

7/3 - Slater fireworks again.

7/3 - I really love the sparkle ones at the bottom of this shot.

7/3 - So fancy firework!

7/4 - As per our Fourth of July tradition we have a fire and make s'mores. We also decided to cook our hot dogs on a fire this year too. Alex was on standby waiting for the fire to get started and poking a stick at the dirt.

7/4 - Aaron loves to start fires with road flares. It's actually quite effective and really fast. I love how Amelia has her hands on her face. The smoke kept getting in her eyes but she still wanted to see what was going on so she would cover her eyes and them peek out before covering them again.

7/4 - Everyone was gathered around watching Aaron build the fire. Alex was the most impressed and he kept trying to get me to look at the fire instead of at him.

7/4 - I got a picture of my four festively dressed kids while Aaron was still building the fire. They look so cute!

7/4 - Spencer and Miya were struggling with cooking their hot dogs on the fire. They were afraid of getting burnt so they didn't want to get too close.

7/4 - Amelia loved the idea of cooking her hot doggie on the fire. She waved it around a lot in an attempt to get it fully in the flames.

7/4 - In the end the fire cooking was taking way too long for my kids interest level and I didn't want to sit there holding the sticks over the fire so Aaron ended up putting them on the grill. Good idea and much faster.

7/4 - We had a picnic outside to further the celebration. We all loved it except Miya who would freak out any time a bug came near her, or her food, or her plate. It was funny to watch her yell, "an ant!" at the teeny tiniest little bug ever.

7/4 - Since our first fourth together Aaron's always started the sparklers with a road flare. This year was no exception. Alex was instantly taken with the flare and didn't cry at all.

7/4 - Miya was very brave with her sparkler this year and loved waving it around in the air.

7/4 - Amelia was really excited about her sparkler. She was hopping up and down when I told her she could have one and loved waving it around too.

7/4 - Spencer loved the gold sparks but was really worried that it was going to "catch me on fire!" I reassured him that it was okay but he still held it pretty far away.

7/4 - Alex got to hold his own sparkler this year and I don't know who was more excited. He was waving it around a giggling and so was I. At one point he decided to switch hands and that was a little scary but we both made it unscathed.

7/4 - Aaron and the kids took their picture with the huge sparklers we got this year. Since we can only do really simple fireworks in Iowa we thought it'd be fun to branch out and get the big ones. It was nice because they lasted forever. I didn't have to constantly be lighting something for someone to hold.

7/4 - It was fun to get a picture by myself and to hold a big sparkler. They really lasted for a long time and were totally worth the extra money.

7/4 - Sassy Miya was dancing as she waved her sparkler around.

7/4 - Spencer liked the big sparklers better because he could hold them further from him without really trying.

7/4 - Amelia had a sassy pose with her sparkler and was so excited to have free reign with it this year.

7/4 - The best tradition we ever started was to cook S'mores on the fourth. We all love them and we are lucky enough to be able to build a fire in our own yard. - which is looking awfully jungle like in this picture.

7/4 - Happy guy Spencer was all about his s'more.

7/4 - Miya didn't think I was taking the picture fast enough she just wanted to bite.

7/4 - I adore the picture of Amelia with her s'more. She's such a cutie!

7/4 - Alex didn't get a s'more this year. I didn't want to even think about the mess he would make with it so we just gave him a graham cracker and he didn't know what he was missing.

7/4 - I like roasting marshmallows, I think it's a lot of fun to watch them cook and to sit over the fire.