Fourth Of July

We had a great 4th of July!
We started with the Parade in Stayton


DeAnna got this picture I edited of my Mom and me before we got going


Once we started moving, I noticed Carson was holding on to his hat and I just knew he wouldn't let go until I assured him it wouldn't blow away at the walking pace we were driving!


The official start of the parade


Emmett and Carson were both waving, but when Emmett stopped Carson took it upon himself to show him how


Avery really liked tossing the Frisbees, which we had in lots of colors, but we are going to have to work on Avery's aim.


It worked a little better when he just helped pass them to Daddy


My Mom and Dad both watched last year but this year Dad wanted to ride while Mom was adamant that she wanted to watch the parade. When the trailer started getting crowded Dad decided to stay and watch with Mom.


Carson enjoying some of the Candy afterward


After the parade the cousins spent a while running around and throwing the Frisbees. Actually, this one looks like he's jumping to catch it.


Uh oh, the boys are talking...


...and now Alli's upset, although I don't know what was said it doesn't seem to have made a difference with Avery. The whole time the only thing he seemed to care about was throwing his Frisbee.


Emmett had way too much fun getting to run around free!




Ah, a Carson Grandpa moment.


Carson has several pairs of sandals to choose from. These have been falling apart for a while but they're the ones we found first when it was time to leave and they're red and blue so I figured it would be fine. Nope. They finally died.


One little strand was holding on so he walked around flopping it until it finally came off


Then he sat down and tried to push it back on!


After running home to get Carson some different sandals and to grab the dessert I made (flag cake but I didn't get pictures) we went to my in-laws' for bbq and fireworks!


Thankfully Emmett stays away from the fire pit and understands he doesn't want anything to do with "hot," but I still feel like I have to watch him!


Before dinner was ready, Carson and Emmett decided to have some watermelon, or maybe they just wanted forks to bang on the table.


The was so cute, Emmett took it upon himself to grab this chair and he plopped it right in front of Grandpa's.


Alli got upset about Damon whispering to Avery earlier, so it was good to see them all playing so nicely at the bbq. Alli is singing her lungs out.


This was funny them trying to get up this hill


Now Avery tries pulling, whoops it's slippery!


In the midst of trying to get up the hill, Alli takes off to the other side of the hill trying to get them to play some new game where she's (I think) a sleeping princess?


Here's a video of how all that goes down, and there are just so many little things in this that make me crack up.

4th of July 2010 Cousins At Play from Laurie H on Vimeo.
Ew, those are some gross fingers going in his mouth.


I guess the dads couldn't wait for dark because suddenly the kids were handed sparklers to play with.


And the dads started throwing something in the fire pit. I think Katrina and Julie really appreciated that...


Emmett and Olivia were having a nice little moment here... then Emmett slammed his drink and he was ready to move on.


Time to move out front for fireworks fun!

I love how excited Joel was with these!




Avery with a roman candle


Travis' looks like it was spinning


I don't know what happened, but I thought it was cool how much this flared red.


Boom! This cannon is a staple at every Fourth and New Year's.


Carson does not like the booms and bangs. Even in his sleep he flinches.


Sparkler fun


I love this picture!


Um, this was a bit of insanity. These should have been exploding in the sky, not in the wagon. I got this picture at the start, but it got a lot worse.


Here's a picture DeAnna got further into the insanity!


And why did that happen? Because the boys abused the launchers! Bad boys.


Grand finale! Wish I had my tripod for some longer exposures.






Happy Fourth of July!