July 4th 2011--Happy Independence Day!

We were able to thoroughly enjoy the fourth of July this year, by just relaxing!  It was great!

Luke woke up around 7:30 and Tim got up with him & Carolynn.  They ate breakfast while I got a little more sleep.

We took our time getting the house picked up & everyone dressed.

Then we ate frozen pizzas for lunch before loading the kids up and heading to Emporia at around 12:50.  

Even with a potty break for Carolynn along the way we made it in an hour & 40 minutes.  

Mandy & Tim set up the Slip N Slide that Mom bought for the kids.  Neither Luke or Carolynn really "got it" but they had a great time playing on it until we called them in for dinner around 5!  

Tim had to give them a little tutorial on how to use a Slip N Slide!

 But, they really just enjoyed playing with the spraying water!

I helped get the Bocci Ball court set up, but then went inside, since I was having contractions.

J.C. and Mandy played Bocci, while Dad grilled steaks, burgers, and hot-dogs.

We had a SUPER yummy dinner, with the grilled food, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes.  I'm pretty sure everybody ate until they were stuffed!  (Luke was a little piggy! He gobbled up a whole ear of corn & 1.5 hot dogs!)

During dinner a huge thunder storm rolled through & knocked out the power.  Fortunately for us, Dad has his generator so we were in the dark for less than 10 seconds!  Their generator is pretty awesome, it powers the entire house including the heat & AC units!

When the storm cleared a little bit, we took the kids outside to play with the little package of "Poppers" I had picked up.

After the poppers were done, Mandy & J.C. left and the rest of us went in & relaxed while watching Finding Nemo.  Luke snuggled his Pap and Carolynn snuggled her Grandmom.

Around 8:00 we loaded up Luke and all our junk and headed home.  It was storming pretty bad again, but we made it home in an hour & 50 minutes.  Luke & I both slept the whole way!

Carolynn stayed with Mom and Dad, she's spending the week at their house.

All in all it was a really nice holiday and I'm glad we didn't rush-rush-rush to be any where!