4th of July Fun!

Our fun Fourth of July actually started on July 2 with the A's game, complete with tailgate party and fireworks. Xochitl continues to be our bravest kid--even without earplugs, she didn't even flinch at the loud bangs and booms of the fireworks. She even "Oohed" and "wowed" and pointed. Actually, it was the most still and quiet she was for that whole night. During the game, she liked to climb over and back onto Nana and Papa and then back to mom and dad... over and over again...

Then, after church on the 3rd, we headed up to Sacramento to visit Uncle Weston. He had steak and potatoes waiting to be grilled when we got there (so awesome!). We relaxed and played games all evening.

The next morning, we went to a parade. Larry loved all the cool cars and fire trucks. Dawna loved collecting candy from the various groups represented in the parade. Then we came home and I remembered to get my camera out for the first time all weekend...

Weston turned on his sprinklers and let his niece and nephew run wild in his backyard. They also enjoyed feeding the squirrels out there by leaving peanuts in the plant pot.
In this picture, they are all pretending to be alligators... as in... they are all about to chomp down with their big jaws... I think Weston is the best alligator.

Then Uncle Lynn joined us! Yay! I pushed Weston into making his house a little less bachelor-pad-esque by requiring him to purchase baking soda and vanilla extract. Jon and I wanted to make donuts in our deep fryer. They turned out perfectly delicious! and very beautiful!

We didn't actually have a donut cutter, and they don't carry them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond either (go figure...) so we improvised with a giant mug and a baby bottle. Seemed to work out very well...

The yummy food continued throughout the day with another barbecue of hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner followed by pie for dessert! Jon is cooking in the background, the kids are playing in the dirt... I know... appetizing...
And of course, the fireworks! We got a pretty late start on them, but they were lots of fun! Naomi seemed a little more wary of these close-up fireworks... she actually cried a bit, but overall I think she liked them... as long as Lynn or Mom or Dad was holding her...

We got home very late... or early, depending on how you look at it... but we still had 9 hours before swim lessons started! But that is another story for another time...

End of Part II of blog ketchup.