Jam-Packed 4th!

I think I can easily say that the 4th of July is my favorite holiday! I love that we get to celebrate our freedom, this great country, all the men and women who have sacrificed their lives so we could have our freedom, all those who are still protecting our freedom, summer etc and to top it all off Benjamin's birthday is only a few days before! I think the beginning of July will forever more be a busy time for us...and I love it! As usual we started off the day at the big parade in Provo with all of the family. Rachel and Benjamin had a grand old time dancing, clapping and being crazy with everyone. It rained for a few minutes but we didn't have an umbrella so I used the next best thing...a camping chair. Benjamin wasn't a huge fan of it so I ended up sitting under a tree until it stopped. Toward the end of the parade Benjamin fell asleep and stayed asleep even when the cannons went off!

I know this video is sideways but it is so darn cute. After the Parade I had this conversation with Rachel:

Me: Rachel what was your favorite part of the parade?

Rachel: The big bands!

Me: Ya?! Do you want to play in the band one day?

Rachel: Yes!

Me: What instrument do you want to play in the band?

Rachel: The drums!

Me: Oh really?

Rachel: Ya and I want 2 red drumsticks. Can we go to the store now so I can pick them out?

Me: Um, maybe not today...

Usually after the parade we go to the Brick Oven for some yummy pizza but this year we decided it would be best to skip out...we were all super tired. So we returned to Grandma and Grandpa's where we rested and had some lunch. After the cousins came we had Benjamin open up some more Birthday presents. This time he was able to open them with less 'help' from Rachel ;) He got some super cute outfits, a fun piggy bank toy (that he loves!), and lots of bath toys!

After opening presents all the kids got in the pool to splash around and cool off in. Of course they all loved it. We think Benjamin got some sunscreen in his eyes so he didn't want to be in there very long. The big kids had a hard time not splashing so much around him anyway so it was probably a good thing. Next time we've decided to have 2 pools...a splashing one and a non-splashing one. That should accommodate everyone!

Of course after that it was on to some yummy grilled food, cake and root beer floats! Yum!! For this birthday cake I made a baseball glove and baseball cupcake. I didn't really know what I was doing but it turned out pretty cool I think. Benjamin was tired and didn't really want to eat it so he just had fund making a big mess. Oh and don't you just love the fact that he is wearing a pink and purple bib?!

We were planning on going to fireworks that night with the cousins but Benjamin ended up crashing around 7:30, Rachel was exhausted too, even though she didn't want to admit it, and so we nixed that idea. Sometimes you have to change plans to accommodate your family's needs. Even though we didn't go see fireworks we tried to light some little ones off in the driveway. There was only one problem...it was pretty windy! Dad and Marc had a hard time trying to light them so we snapped a few photos and called it good.