Family Vacation: Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July from us to you! Happy Birthday America!

 

We woke up nice and early and Adrienne and had made plans to go to the sprinkler park at Saluda Shoals. Grandma and Grandpa Jackson suggested it. We were originally going to try the zoo but being that it was going to be like 95 and gross during the day, we thought it wouldn't be the best idea. The boys and Amelia headed to the shooting range to do target practice with their guns for the morning. Grandma Jackson suggested this sprinkler park. We invited Grandma and Great Grandma Mimi but due to the heat, they decided to stay indoors for the morning. Uncle Keith, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Jillian were going to come meet us but we ended up leaving before they came.

 

This girl loves a playground!!!

Naturally we brought snacks. We ALWAYS bring snacks.

These two. Watching the weird, dirty, sketchy kids at the park....making sure Charlotte is safe and we don't need to throw down.

She is really starting to love a good slide.

The kids were overwhelmed with the sprinklers so we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's house to meet up with some of the family. They also have a neighborhood pool that we wanted to check out. We dropped Aunt Adrienne off at home because she had plans with her friend and then we headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house.

 

Charlotte ran up onto the porch and joined Aunt Nancy and Jillian on the swing. Sawyer and Uncle Keith started another gun battle like the night before :)

How cute is he?????

I could just pinch him. That hair. The curls. The blonde. His eyes.

CHEESE!!

Grandma Jackson gave Sawyer his special birthday present! It's a choo choo train!!!

We had lunch with everyone. We had delicious leftovers from the night before.

Then for dessert, we had delicious cupcakes.

This girl loves her sweets.

There is a lot of red white and blue going on here!

Both kids got adorable swimming suits from Grandma and Grandpa Jackson. They were red white and blue. So they wore their new swimming suits for the 4th of July.

And Sawyer wore Uncle Adam's new hat.

The kids love my phone. They took it and were showing videos and pictures of themselves to Grandma Mimi.

And then they shared their pictures with Grandma Jackson.

We finally headed to the pool for a bit. They had a baby pool at their neighborhood pool. The kids LOOOVED it....although this was right before Sawyer went under. Freak me out.

Rocking her new swimming suit.

Cousin Jillian came to the neighborhood pool with us. Because of the heat, no one else wanted to venture out and watch the babes play in the water. They were in heaven though.

After about 45 minutes, we headed back to Grandma and Grandpa Jackson's house. Alex and the guys had gotten back and were eating lunch there. We said hi and the kids put on a show for everyone. Then we headed back to Uncle Adam's house. It was time for naps and time to get ready for the wedding :)

Pool Day At Gigi's

We had a nice little pool day at Gigi and Papa's house. We invited Jodi and her girls and Maegen and her girls. Bare and Liddy came down too. We all played outside and pretty much avoided the pool. It was pretty cold and in the shade the entire time. But the kids all played with the toys in the yard and had fun. We had a delicious lunch of frozen pizza and raw vegetables and chips then the naps needed to happen. Sawyer went down for a nap and Maegen took her girls home. Ella and Charlotte were able to play together a bit longer.

 

This is the result of that....

 

A beautiful blue eyed red head with lipstick.

Charlotte is a different story.....

Clearly she was a bit overzealous with the make up.

And this little beauty sat and watched and I know she made fun of them in her head.

And this sweet girl loved on everyone and only had a few fits. Doesn't she just look perfect????

 

 

I wish I had taken more pictures but of course I didn't....

 

It was a great day. I love watching my babes play with their friends.

Memorial Day Celebrations

On Memorial Day, we woke up at Grandma Ann's house. We got ready and headed over to the Memorial Day celebration taking place in the park in Kampsville where my Grandma and Grandpa live. Grandpa served in the Korean War. He is part of the Legion post in Kampsville. He is also mayor of the town so we knew we needed to be there. Naturally we forgot that there is a ferry that connects the two sides of the river. So we were late. Like 10 minutes late. Oh Well.

 

We got to be there for it.

As we walked up, these lovely gentlemen were getting ready to shoot their guns.

Clearly Charlotte didn't like it.

My boys...

 

Small town USA saluting America.

This, my friends, is what it is all about.

This, my friends, is the area of the world that I want to raise my kids.

My Dad gave a speech about my friend Tyler that was injured in Iraq in 2004. It was such a good speech and made Dad and I cry. (Not shocking). I love Memorial Day. I love celebrating the lives of the men and women who have given their lives for our freedom. I love remembering them and their families that they left behind.

 

This is my Grandpa.

He is a hero.

These two have the same hair.

Kisses for Great Grandma.

These two are brothers.

They are both veterans.

Mom plays taps every year at the Memorial Day program.

 

Mom, Grandpa, Aunt Bev, Mom's two cousins, and Uncle Deener.

Uncle Deener and some of his grandkid crew :)

Charlotte was in rare form.

That usually happens on big weekends :)

This is such a good picture of these two.

I'm very proud of it.

After the steaming hot celebration in the park with bugs all over us and biting us, we headed to the American Legion hall and ate some delicious food.

Sweet Charlotte and Great Grandpa Redeye.

They were sharing secrets.

Hugs and kisses for Great Grandma.

After lunch we headed over to the swimming party at Aunt Diane's pool.

It's always a big party!

Such a fun family!

Katie is cool.

Charlotte sneaking a drink of my Moto soda.

Swimming with Daddy!!!

Liss and Kyla hanging in the pool!

Aunt Kathy isn't exactly a fish in the water but she jumped off of the diving board anyway :)

Gotta love her!!!

(We sent all of the boys down to help if she needed it.)

Didi bought all of the kids some sort of blue slushie things. They LOVED it.

Clearly Alana preferred other things.

A big blue mouth....

Kyla was down to business. She was determined to finish her slushie!

 

We had a great day at Aunt Diane's house. Mom and Dad ended up coming over to Aunt Diane's. Dad and Alex rode home together. Mom rode back to the villa with the kids and I. We spent the night at the villa and went to St. Louis the next day. We had such a great Memorial Day Weekend!

 

A big thanks to all of our family for the fun and thanks to my cousin Melia for taking our pictures on the farm.