Tuesday, July 05, 2011

4th of July Weekend

We had a really great 4th of July weekend with friends and family.  I love the 4th of July and I felt more grateful than ever this year since my brother-in-law is overseas serving in Iraq.  I have always been appreciative of the sacrifices made by those who serve our country, and this year it is so close to home.  I see what my brother-in-law, sister, and their kids sacrifice, and sometimes it is really heartbreaking.  So thank you to all who have served and continue to serve so that we can enjoy this free country.

We started our weekend Thursday night.  I drove up to Newcastle with my sister-in-law Michelle and the kids.  The drive was great except poor Max cried the last 1/2 hour or so.  When we got there we realized he had a poopy diaper and he was FREEZING.  I had the AC on and it was blowing right on the poor little guy.  Yeah, I felt horrible.  Not one of my finest mommy moments.  On Friday we met up with some of our very best friends, the Evers at Lake of the Pines.  It was so fun to see them, I just wish Jason had been able to be there.  The weather was perfect and we had so much fun swimming.
Me, Jeff, and Kelly

The ladies.  Ashley, Chrissy, me, Kelly and my lovely mother.
My beautiful friend Kelly.
Grandma has the magic touch and got Max to take a little nap.

Jason and our brother-in-law Eric drove up late Friday night to avoid traffic.  Saturday we just hung out and relaxed.  And in the afternoon we went swimming at the Hancocks.  Jason has many, many good memories with the Hancocks and it was so nice of them to let us come swim.

Michelle and Nemo.

Ollie had tons of fun jumping in the water and being thrown around.
Jason and Max.

Me and Michelle.

Ollie LOVES Eric.  Later that night he told us "Grandma loves Shelley, and Ollie loves Eric".  It is pretty cute.

"Let me out of here!"
Later that evening Jason, the kids, and I went to my cousin Mary's little boy Jake's birthday party.
Lys and Ollie.
Me, Chrissy and Max.
Max is eating everything these days, including celery.  It was keeping him hydrated :)

After the birthday party, we took the kids back to Jason's parents, put Max to bed, then Jason and I went out to dinner.  We are so grateful to have family willing to let us leave our kids for a bit to spend some time together.
We tried a restaurant in Auburn called Latitudes that we have always wanted to try.  They have a normal menu that is always available, and then every month they have a menu with dishes from different countries available.  This month was South East Asia.  We both ordered from the SE Asia menu and really enjoyed it.  It was so nice to spend alone time together.

Sunday we went to church with my parents then had dinner with my whole family (minus Letty), Jason's family, and the Boatmans.  It was so delicious and fun to all hang out.
The whole gang.
Papa reading books to Nathan and Ollie.
Also Sunday night Jeff and Kelly, and their adorable kids came to Jason's parents house so they could see Jason, which was SO nice of them.  We love them so much and miss them a ton.  We hope to someday end up living close to each other.

Monday morning was the annual City of Lincoln 4th of July parade.  We were really excited because my mom was able to get Ollie and Alyssa a spot on a vintage firetruck in the parade.  We thought Ollie would love it but he actually HATED it.  They were in front of all the big firetruck who had their sirens on and horns blowing.  It was way too loud for Ollie.  Jason was with him and said it left his ears ringing. So Jason texted me and when they got close to us I ran and got Ollie off.  Next year we will just watch from the sides :)

While there we caught up with my bestest friends in the whole world (we missed you Megan).  I seriously love these girls.

Stacie loves being a creeper in our pictures.

Nathan, Owen and Max watching the parade.

My parents at the parade. 
I really love this picture of Jack and Ashley, so cute. 
I had to get one picture of them on the firetruck before I rescued Ollie.

Poor guy was pretty upset.

He was much happier to sit on the truck while it wasn't going.  I can't remember this gentlemen's name but he is the one who drove the firetruck.

After the parade we stopped by the Lions Club fireworks booth where my parents were working and got a few little fireworks.  We live in Santa Clara County and they don't sell fireworks here, lame.  We left to come home right after that and were home by 1:15pm.  We then had a few friends over for a BBQ and fireworks.  It was a perfect evening.

Paul and Amy with sweet little Clara.  She really is the most adorable baby ever.

Claire with her cute boys.  They are both looking at the camera!!

Me, Amy and Claire.

Watching our little fireworks.

The boys were way more into the poppers than any of the actual fireworks.  We will have to remember that next year.


My parents just got back from Isreal.   They got Ollie this hat (while they were in Boston) and he was wearing it around last night calling it his pirate hat.  And this is a huge breakthrough because when I asked him to smile for the camera, he actually did it!!

We hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July!!

3 comments:

Letty said...

So sad I missed out!!

Lori said...

Oh, fun times! Sorry you had some unexpectedly hard moments in there. Bad mommy moments are the worst! But it looks like a great holiday was had all the same.

bren said...

Dang, you guys are party animals! Going straight from the parade to having ano9ther party once you got home. Too bad we didn't get to hang out more, but soon enough, we be chillin all the time. I will be over 24/7!!! Hope Jason doesn't mind. jk Anyway, I need to see what you guys are doing for Thanksgiving this year- I've got a fun idea for all of our families to do. I'll call you later..