4th of July- Part 2

My 4th of July was challenge after challenge after challenge before "enjoying" the day off. We had plans to visit grandpa and pick cherries from his cherry tree and then off to Nana's for lunch and a nice day in the park with family and friends where the kids can play in the water and just enjoy the day with their cousins.

ONLY that day never really happened. LOL! We got to church late... had to go to an extremely overcrowded grocery story called Wal-Mart to get groceries for our picnic, forgot stuff so made a side trip to Freddies and left my debit card in the car so had to run back out and re-ring everything back up. Got to the Father in Laws house and realized we forgot the kids' fireworks at the house so we headed back home for the fireworks. Didn't get to pick cherries at Grandpas so hoping to get by later this week... which at this point isn't looking so good because my To Do list just seems to keep getting longer and longer. So after fixing face paint umpteen times with the kids, we headed off to Nana's and got there around 4. Can you believe she ate lunch without us! So what if we were only 3 hours late for our lunch date... :D

We went to the annual fireworks at Ann Morrison and left from Nana's house who lives about a mile away. In Madi's stroller we packed in 5 camping chairs, two blankets, a cooler full of ice, a bag of fireworks, a bag of snacks, a 15 lb bag of camera equipment, a tripod, 3 backpacks and a kid's chair. Can you believe the wheel broke off on the way there... A stroller with 3 wheels doesn't work well... did you know that! :D

So here we are with our 3 kids who decided to bring their scooters with them so they can't carry anything and all this gear and a whiney almost 3 year old who thinks she HAS to be carried everywhere and a broken stroller... My husband ran back to Nana's grabbed the van and recruited his brother Matt to help us to carry stuff into the park. My job was to carry in my camera bag and my 3 year old so I walked on without them as they found a parking spot and carried everything in. My husband did a great job carrying everything in except he forgot one little item... As i am getting ready to finally set up my camera stuff 20 minutes before the fireworks display... I notice my tripod is no where to be found. He remembered EVERYTHING except for that.... So no fireworks pictures this year from me. I didn't even try. I knew they wouldn't turn out so I didn't bother. Also did I mention that in the cooler that I packed for dinner at the park included Black Forest ham, Swiss Cheese, Mayo, Mustard, tomatoes, onions... everything except the bread... I FORGOT TO PACK BREAD! It was quite the day of mishaps... but in the long run it still ended up being sooooo much fun and a 4th of July I shall never forget. Next year I guarantee I won't forget the bread or tripod....

I remembered crayons at least for my 3 year old! And here is my cutesy Sister In Law Laury!


My single, adorable brother in law Matt.... :D


Laury kicking her husband in the toosh! Trust me it is much deserved... she puts up with a lot! :D


Me and Laury! Aren't we so cute!


My crayons and books entertained the kids for awhile.


My husband and his brother


My two favorite boys


I have no idea what they were laughing about but soooo cute to watch them


The boys and Madi snuggling up to her Uncle Jack


My niece Sydney and her friend Paige


My nephew Zach. He told me it was one cool picture of him! :D

Girls will be Girls!


Chalk Art in the Park! It was absolutely stunning!


And last but not least.... Josh with two of the kids