This year's 4th festivities started on the 3rd. We woke up early to see the hot air balloons. We didn't get out the door as quickly as we would have liked to, so we missed seeing the balloons go from flat to full (that's my favorite part). It was still worth the early morning!
It was very bright where we were sitting to wait for the balloons to come back, so Darin was the hero and blocked the sun for us. 
And here is our family in all our early morning glory:
After we had a bite to eat we headed home for much needed naps (although the kids forgot they were tired once their friends came knocking). I snoozed on the rocking chair with Brig and David while the other boys played and Liv headed to Lagoon with our neighbors Lily and Julie. At around 5:00 that evening Warren remembered that he was tired. (Notice my neighbors' dishes washed and ready to return. We were fed very well the week after Brighams' arrival!)
Saturday morning we slept in, made cookies, then headed to my parents' house for lunch. After that Darin went golfing with the golfers in my family and I took the kids swimming. I was so grateful for my sisters and nieces and nephews who watched my kids in the pool while I sat in the shade with Brig.
The swimmers and the golfers finished at about the same time, and we met up for a barbecue. Fireworks were a no-no this year in my parents' area, so we went to a park to do our fireworks. Brig slept peacefully in Darin's arms at my parent's house while I took the other kids to the park. There were a lot of people there, and it was a fun atmosphere. When it got dark we started our little fireworks show, complete with a stuntman:
We did sparklers
and Aunt Camille provided glow in the dark swords (they were a hit!)
After dark, the fun community atmosphere took a scary turn for a few minutes. All the boys were running around the field throwing their swords in the air and sword fighting. I kept counting the swords to make sure everyone was accounted for. At one point we were short two glowing swords. My heart sank a little as I realized the two missing swords belonged to Oliver and David--the two littlest cousins in attendance. Heidi (Oliver's mom) and I began our search, and after a few minutes of not finding them, aunts, uncles, and cousins joined our search party. I was heartsick as I heard so many people yelling their names. Just as I was about to have a nervous breakdown, and just as the first tears fell I heard my brother yell to me that he had found them happily sword fighting. Relief doesn't begin to describe my emotion. I was profoundly grateful and hugged him close.
We went back to my parents' house to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks, then chatted until traffic died down. We had a great day!
3 comments:
Deanne, you are such a trooper already out and about. You look great. That is a terrifying feeling when you don't know where your child is, I'm glad everything was okay.
glad things were okay. I have a friend in PG that took some amazing balloon shots, she does every year but I think these were her best.
happy 4th and kudos that you are up and about! beautiful kiddos P- just told me the other day that out of everyone from HS, Darin is the only one he'd want to live near and regrets not getting to know him even better in HS. pass that along, but I'll deny that it came from me :) LOL
Look at you all out for the fourth of July! You are amazing!
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