Independence Day

 The evening before the 4th, Jeremy and I had kids at Grandma's house so we could go grocery shopping.  We woke up really early, around 5am, and drove to Denny's in Kahoka for an awesome truck stop breakfast!  It was super duper!  I had the Fourth of July special of blueberry pancakes topped with strawberries, blueberries, cream cheese sauce, and whipped cream! And it came with eggs, hashbrowns, and BACON!  Jeremy got the Farmhouse skillet and it was awesome!  We bought some smallish fireworks and headed to Nauvoo to pick up kids in time for the parade in Carthage. 

 Cullen waiting for the parade to start. 

 Eden ran around most of the time and didn't really watch the parade too much, if at all.  At the very beginning the fire truck sirens caused her to pause her running around with a concerned look.  haha! 

 The Chargers Band

 Our Mascot

 Liam draped his candy bag around his head at one point.

 A shaggy dog with a strange blue stripe.

 Dairy Queen was handing out free ice cream coupons....SCORE!

 Kids in barrells.

 Dance girls.

 The theme of the parade was "Night at the Movies" or something kinda like that.  Only a couple of the floats stayed with the theme and I liked Memorial Hospitals float the best! 

 I love that Eden put these sunglasses on and never took them off until we got home.  She is awesome.  The boys kept theirs on too but, I expected that, haha!  

 Eden and Daddy

 I wanted to get a cute picture of her there standing but, as soon as I turned my camera on her she walked away.  Darn it!

 But, you get the idea, right???  It woulda been really cute!

 We found Eden at home diggin' in the bags of parade candy.  

She had eight unwrapped suckers in one hand!!

 We went to Sarah and Matt's house in Hamilton in the early afternoon.  The little ones were worn out from the parade and it was their regular nap times anyway.  The big ones were wired on parade candy and soda....it all mixed to create a chaotic mess!! haha!! Jeremy really wanted to chat with Matt because they hadn't seen each other in awhile but, it was hard to finish a conversation.  They kept yelling and screaming and crying.  They are not usually that crazy all at the same time.  Whew!  Eden decided to pile rocks up on Matt's car too.  I think he was having a heart attack on the inside, bhahaha!  Sorry, Matt! 

 They had the big tent set up and some good food to boot! 

 Jeremy tried to play frisbee with all of the kids but, they kept fighting when he threw it to anyone else.  SMH

 Matt workin' the grill station.

 Lance, Matt's brother, lighting the rocket.

 We had another gathering at Trisha and Josh's house after Saran and Matt's.  We also had to stop at my mom's and do a couple of last minute things for her.  WE planned on dropping the kids at Trisha's and running out to my mom's real quick, then hang a Trisha and Josh's until six so we got the kids home without falling asleep.  Because we also had our fireworks and the fireworks in Carthage to watch still.  Well, the babies fell asleep, the big boys were crazier still, and Jeremy and I were both exhausted.  We decided to just go home instead of going to Nauvoo.  Then we drove out of our way, needed a soda, realized we had to go to my mom's still and we may as well just stop at Trisha's while we were there.  After we went to my mom's we saw that we had texts from Jeremy's mom and sister asking us to come anyway, cuz they were bumming when we said we weren't coming.  Sweet!  Made us feel loved anyway!  lol!
They had a big spread of food too.  I was still pretty stuffed from Sarah and Matt's but, Jeremy and the kids dug in!   The kids played in the sprinkler and in the yard.

 Owen feeding Milo watermelon.

 My handsome Jeremy.  Isn't he so good lookin'?!?!  

 My Froo Froo wearing her Fourth of July swim suit!! She is so cute!

 Liam

 Cedric

 We did some smoke bombs.  The kids always like those.  I thought Chase's face in this picture was really funny/cute!  

 I caught Owen in mid-air jumping on a SNAP.  Cool, huh?

 Tyson and Harley

 Harley again.

 Asher was having so much fun.  

He ended up REALLY hyper that day and it as all coming to a head at the end of the day.

  He had a TON of energy and played and laughed really hard. 

 Happy Asher face.

 Chase loves to pee anywhere and everywhere! haha!  He thought peeing in the pool was a great idea!  Look how pleased he is with himself!! BAhahahahaha!

 Josh showing Chase how to light fireworks. 

 Big boys teaching the little boys.

 Asher and Dad.

 Trisha asked me to snap a shot or two of Milo for his Fourth of July picture.  Well, I did...and then some!! lol!! I went a little crazy but, I really enjoy taking pictures.  Like I really do ENJOY it.  And from there we had to get some baby Harley pics too.  So much fun.  I could do it every day.

 These two are almost the same but, I couldn't decide between him reaching for Mama or his hands on his head.

 All the bigger kids were playing with fireworks while us girls and babies were snapping pictures.  Chase ran over to tell us about the fireworks a couple of times though and was really cute!

 Run, Liam!

 My sweet Cully Bear hiding behind the tree.

 Chase and Milo

 And now the Harley pictures.....

 Lighting stuff on fire.

 My Cedric

 Look at his cute little squishy face!

 Eden was scared of all the fireworks and stayed inside until there were done. 

 She kept seeing herself in the doorknob and talked to herself for awhile.  She would smile, scream, make faces......I love her!! She is so funny!

So, then we drove home to watch the fireworks.  When we got home, Jon and Nicky Cote called to say they were gonna come watch the fireworks at our house.  Sweet!  So we let our kids run amuck and watched the lights!!  We hung out chatted for a little after that but, we were wiped out!  It was a long day!!  Despite the minor hitch in the afternoon, we made it and had fun!!!  Awesome!  I love the Fourth of July and what it stands for!!!

 Oh, and on our way back into Nauvoo after stopping by my mom's house we saw this car full of rocket scientists.  Some of the smartest, I am sure.

 Chase came running over making cute little "pop" movements with his hands telling us about the fireworks!  haha!! 

 Screaming at herself!!


Oh, and Asher may or may not believe that we celebrate the Fourth in honor of the war on aliens that we fought!!! Bahahahahah!  Okay, so on the way home from the parade, Liam asked why we celebrate the Fourth of July.  I took it upon myself to say that we celebrate the freedoms we have, there was a war fought to free ourselves from English rule, etc, etc, etc.  Then we came home and when we got inside we turned on Independence Day (1995 movie with Will Smith) and let everyone watch it.  Boy did we have some explaining to do after that!!! LMAO!  Really sweet memory.