Fabulous 4th!

I always greet the 4th of July with mixed emotions. It is one of my absolute favorite holidays and yet it always means the summer is going by way too fast. Since I was a little kid, we celebrated the 4th in style. It always included the parade and always ended with fireworks. As a family, we have tried to add a few of our own traditions as well andI know my kids love this holiday as much as we do.

We were lucky enough this year to have our weekend start on Friday with a day of boating at the lake with my mom and family. We let the kids each bring a friend and they all had a blast. Each of them tried waterskiing including Miss Kinley, who was the first to try. She did so good! They all got plenty of rides on the "taco" tube and plenty of at bats on the beach with my brothers. At one point, Bennett was riding with all four of the older kids and he was hopping back and forth between the tubes as the boat was moving. So fun!

Ready to ride!

Double trouble!

Sand castle time

Kinley enlisted many helpers

Miss Kinley skiing!

We spent the 4th with our good friends and neighbors, with whom we spend most of our summer nights anyway. We hit the parade, a few of the rides and of course made 5 gallons of homemade root beer, which makes the best root beer floats. We had dinner with my dad, brother and his wife and enjoyed some serious Wyoming fireworks from Brandon's porch (wow!) and then watched some Greeley fireworks from my dad's deck, which are lit right across the street from his house. If that wasn't enough, we then rejoined the neighbors for more fun and fireworks in our backyards. God Bless America!!

A great view

Rides!

Her favorite thing

Time to launch!

Papa's sweethearts