4th of July

Ok, I know, I know, it took me forever to load up all my pictures from our 4th of July weekend. We were pretty exhausted when we got home. It was a full, fun, family weekend.

We started the long trek to Ohio from Arkansas on Wednesday afternoon after getting off work a little early. We made it to Terra Haute, Indiana that night and slept in a hotel. The kids did great in the car (until the last 30 minutes when they woke up and were overly tired...). The activity bags from Christine were a hit...thanks Chris!!
We woke up on Thursday morning, drove the rest of the way, and made it to my parents around noon. It was nice to break up the drive.

Of course, mom had fun toys for the kids to play with right away.

Joey got to go golfing with the guys on Thursday. He played an entire 18 holes with them. From what I heard, he did great, but got pretty tired the last 5 holes. While golfing, he somehow uttered the phrase, 'take off your skirt, Uncle Andy.' I'm pretty sure daddy told him to say that!

We loved getting to see baby Luca (Andy and Kelly's new baby boy) so soon after he was born. Kylah loved on him as much as possible.

Uncle Aaron got a little cuddle time with Luca.

The older Joey and Michael get, the better they play together. It's so fun to see them together.

Auntie G reads Kylah a book. Kylah knew all of her aunts and uncles names...pretty impressive!

What a sweet little boy!

Papa baking cookies with the kids (and talking them into taking a bath while they were cooking...)

Kylah is loving this baby stuff! We do have to watch her pretty closely because she's at that age where when she's done, she'll just start pushing the baby off her lap!

Joey found some Husker helmets (actually chip bowls) for him and Michael to wear to play football.

Kylah gets in on the action.

The kids are playing those fun 4th of July popping things (you know, the ones you throw on the ground and they pop?) with Papa. This is a small view of my parents' back yard. I love their backyard. This is their deck, and then at the end of the deck is a big fire pit. Off to the side is a nice hot tub. And then they have a huge flat yard as well. They've done awesome on the landscaping too!

I award Esther the "Best Marshmallow Roaster" award! Seriously, she has so much patience, and they are awesome!

Kylah thoroughly enjoyed her Smore!

What a cute little mess.

Joey enjoyed his too. He remembered smores and lightning bugs from our trip here last summer, and that's all he could talk about!

Me and dad!

Joey loved baby Luca too.

Papa got out his 'Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot' game for the kids. They loved it!

We had so much fun on our 4th of July get together with my family. I should have gotten a group shot of everyone! Joey got to enjoy his first big fireworks show on the 4th of July. He was in awe! I did have to cover his ears for him, but once we got that figured out, he was good to go. His favorite one was 'the green one.' Go figure! :)

Thanks for a great weekend Mom and Dad!