4th of July fun!

We had a wonderful time celebrating the 4th of July with friends and family.  I absolutely LOVE our tradition of swimming, bbq and fireworks with some of our favorite people.  

 I knew the water blasters would be a hit.  However, I didn't think the person to start all the fun would have been Eric!  He held my nephew, Jed for hostage!  HA!!

 The game got pretty intense.  Actually I am not sure if the game ever stopped.  HA!  Maybe a break to eat, but that was about it.  :)

 The kids LOVED it!

 Our American boys...

 Obviously the adults weren't the only ones having a great time.

 Aubrey Rose absolutely adores her cousin Jedidiah.  It is too cute!

 Here are all the kiddos!

Austin, Aubrey Rose and Jedidiah

Our group multiplies every year!  The kids are outnumbering us adults!  All of these friends I have known since high school.  Such wonderful memories we have shared together!!

My brother and his family.  Can't wait for little Riley to arrive in September!!

 Blake's fam!  We were just missing Blair and Alan!

After swimming and BBQ, we went to Grandpa's house to watch Buchanan's fireworks.  LOVE these girls!!

Austin finds "VROOOOM, VROOOOOM's" everywhere he goes!

Aubrey Rose wore these head phones all night!  HA!  She loved them.

Austin...such a little ham.  :)

Down by the river...

Okay so this is not really a river, but that is what we call it!  We have this wonderful walking trail across the street from our house.  I absolutely love it.  The trees hang over both sides of the trail, shading almost the whole way.  So peaceful.  Then the running water....aaahhhh, I love it.  Sometimes the water is low enough for the kiddos to play in.  That is when it really is my favorite!

Austin and my nephew Jedidiah are huge fans splashing in the water.

Finding sticks, dirt and stones are quite the entertainment!

Oma has come with us a bunch of times.

Opa joined us too one morning!

One of our favorite days was when we got to show Daddy our river.  LOVE it!!

Red, White and Blue

I love seeing all the red, white and blue to celebrate America's Independence Day.  Here are some of the patriotic touches we have decorated in our home.  They makes me smile.

 Our dining room

As I was taking a picture of the dining room, Aubrey Rose stopped me and said, "WAIT!!!  Mommy, let me fix the star!!!"  Then, she went over and tweaked it just a tiny, tiny bit to the right.  Oh dear.  I have no idea where she gets it from.  :)

For last years red, white and blue decorations, click HERE.

More swim fun!

One of my favorite things about summer is our Friday mornings.  For the past couple of years we have had swim parties with some our favorite people!  I have been friends with these girls since our high school days.  What used to be just six girls...

now we have multiplied like crazy!  :)  And our husbands aren't even in the picture!

In the picture below are just the kiddos...there are 13 now!

Check this out...the picture below was taken in 2010.  Where is the time going??  

Luke and Austin in their matching gear. :)

 Underneath all of the pool toys is Lennox.

 He was actually successful jumping in with all of that!

Katie and her newest adorable girl.  Grace and Avery are the sweetest big sister to little Cambria.

 And Demps.  You stole my heart a long time ago with that smile of yours!  So sweet.  :)