Friday, July 5, 2013

4th of July

What a year! This 4th of July was so different from any other year. First of all, it wasn't hot. Which is super strange for this area. Usually we are all dying from the heat and humidity! This year it was rainy and cool. We also scaled down a bit. I tried to keep away from Pinterest and not get in over my head like last year! No fancy treats, or color coordinated everything. :)We did more of a potluck style this year and I have to say it was so much better! So much more relaxed! There was a ton of food and it was all so amazing! My Dad smoked pork butt all night to make pulled pork sandwhiches, we had home made coleslaw, baked beans, fresh tomato and mozzarella salad, chips, dip, cookies, and banana pudding. And that wasn't even all of it! Thankfully the rain stopped for a little while, so the kids got to play outside. We did our annual watermelon seed spitting contest again and it was so fun. I really think that is my favorite part of the day every year! Then Shane decided to do some fireworks in the backyard. We never ever do our own fireworks but because there was a chance the real fireworks could be canceled, we bought some this year. Everything was going great until one of the fireworks fell over mid explosion and shot toward the house where all the people were watching! It seriously went straight for my head! I shot to the side and so did the guy behing me. It hit the house but thankfully didn't do anything. A spark did hit my niece and she will probably never come over to our house ever again! There must have been angels hanging out with us last night for there not to be any serious injuries! So...needless to say...we won't be doing that again! No more fireworks at home! After that we headed to our neighbors back yard. We go there every year. They are a little higher up than we are and they have a perfect view of the fireworks. So we all got there, got our chairs situated and waited for the fireworks to start. The other neighbors decided to shoot off some crazy loud fireworks that totally freaked Natalie out and then it started to rain. Not just a nice rain but like the clouds opened up and dumped a bucket of water on us. Natalie started crying and we all ran screaming back to our own house. Everyone was drenched! I grabbed everyone towels and tried to keep people from slipping on the floor.  It was crazy! Poor Natalie said it was the worst 4th of July ever. Oh well...we still had fun and it will definitely be a 4th of July that we will always remember!
 Only half of all the food :)

 The kids started off the seed spitting contest
 Poor Daddy wasn't finished eating when we started so he brought his food with him!
 Mom's turn
 Jesse and Lesley 
 Rose Marie's went pretty far
 Daddy's turn
 Our first ever two-time champion!
 I gave it a go...not too bad this year
 Shane puts a lot of oomph into his turn :)
 Everyone's seeds all over the driveway
 I just love this picture. I'm not sure why but it's just totally Heidi. She was upset because she didn't spit her seed very far.  
 When the fireworks were going well :)
 The girls dressed up as superheros today for some reason. Natalie was Spidergirl and Heidi was the Green Lantern. Basically a Belle dress with a green cape. :) 
 This was Natalie's cool girl pose. Yikes! 
 Natalie and Ava, my niece...hiding from the fireworks. :)
 One thing I did get from Pinterest...put the sparkler through a plastic cup so the kids don't have to worry about the sparks hitting their hand. It worked perfectly. :)