The 4th of July was a whirlwind day...lots of fun, sun, and memories made!
As has become tradition, we loaded the kids up in the car and headed to the small town of Lennox for their 4th of July parade. I think I say this every year, but this parade is just the epitome of what a 4th of July parade should be - small town feel with a variety of participants (airplanes, firetrucks, politicians, horses, and MUCH more).
After the parade, Meredith and Matt had friends and neighbors over to the house, along with Grandma Jane and us.
Quinn and Sullivan quickly hooked up with their friends, Halle, Reagan and Camryn, along with their cousins. Together they all played and laughed and had the best time.
I don't think I took any pictures of them playing on the bouncy slide - how that happened, I'm not sure. But I did capture this cute picture of them all in the kiddie pool.
While the little ones were having their fun, the adults made their own fun too. We played a game called Hammerschlagen, were you are essentially trying to be the first to hit your nail into the log. Sounds easy, huh? Not so much. You use the pointy edge of the hammer - men use one hand, women use both. Despite how bad we were at the game, Ryan and I had the best time playing!
Grandma Jane even got in on the action.
We also took our hand at Yard Jenga...
A day of playing makes for hungry bodies....
After dinner, the tattoo parlor opened shop and Derrick and Aaron were applying tattoos...
Ryan got in on that action too... who can resist a tattoo?
Especially when it turns out this cute...
As day turned into evening, we made our way on front to shoot some fireworks. To preface that, the Sioux Falls Police had warned residents that they were cracking down on fireworks this year. You were allowed to use small fireworks like smokeballs and sparklers, but weren't allowed to shoot anything that emitted sparks into the air. Violators would be assessed a $95 ticket.
About 10 minutes into our fireworks, we had a friendly visitor stop by.... just to make sure "we were only doing smokeballs and sparklers, right?" "Yes, officer. Of course that is all we are doing." Wink. (Or at least until you pull away). He really was a nice guy, just doing his job!
(Notice the torch that Matt is conveniently trying to hide behind his back!?)
We had quite the fireworks display that evening and were beyond surprised our officer friend didn't come back to visit us.
Here is the whole gang of kids.... cousins, friends, neighbors. Not easy to get a picture where everyone is looking. We will take what we can get!
Earlier in the evening while fireworks were going on, some of the kids and Emily made homemade ice cream. Here they are rolling around the can helping the ice cream form....
This little squirt couldn't get enough of the snaps... I remember that stage very vividly with our girls!
The three of us ladies...
The older girls were having so much fun, and didn't want to night to end. Auntie and Uncle were sweet enough to let the 5 of them have a sleepover. After fireworks, they settled in downstairs to watch a movie.
In the morning, the girls (and Judson) enjoyed a great breakfast. Sleepy eyes filled those girls' faces - and rightfully so since most of them were up past the 1:00am hour!
Another amazing 4th of July for the books. Looking forward to another great one in 2018!
