4th of July

Celebrating the 4th of July with Grandma & Grandpa was fun! Since Joel and Abby are in Slovenia, the other kids and I are at Grandma & Grandpa's house for 10 days. We've had lots of pool time, playing in their backyard, Caleb learning how to swing on their swing set (just like Abby did 2 years ago!) and movie time!

We're missing having Abby in this picture!

I asked the kids to show with their fingers how old they are. I have quite a few photos of my brother and I doing that and in almost all the pictures, I'm looking to my brother to see how many I'm supposed to be holding up and usually holding up the same amount as him. It's cute to see our kids doing the same thing. So it should be 5, 3 and 2, not 5, 2 and 10. ;) 

Elijah's holding up "bunny ears" behind Caleb's head in this picture and I just love his giggly face because of it! :)

We brought "Socks" with us to Grandma's house. He did really well in the van on the way here and has adjusted well to the new place too. Addy, my parents cat, DOES NOT like having him here and Socks is just bound and determined to win her over. So far it's not working. ;)

Since they live in the desert, no fireworks are allowed on the ranch except down near the church where the Crooked River Ranch firemen come with their trucks, just in case a fire breaks out. It was a fun way to do it though. There was quite a few groups of people doing fireworks and we were able to see them all. 

I kind-of forgot that this was Hannah's first year where she's actually aware of fireworks and that there was a training aspect to it. That girl is fearless and didn't understand that you have to keep a distance away from the fireworks and once she actually touched her sparkler. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt, but it was a challenge keeping her in her chair to just "watch" the fireworks instead of "experience" them! ;) 

Earlier in the day, Dad took the boys to see the new Despicable Me 2 movies that came out with another Dad and son, Nate, who is also 3. The boys all enjoyed the boy time and the new movie! Mom & I took Hannah to a free 4th of July event in Redmond. She was too young for most of it, but we went on an "animal train" ride and she tried to Hula Hoop and also attempted to go in a toddler sized jump house. There was also a  petting zoo filled with goats and after petting one, said, "it's hot!" which it was! The fur was hot, poor thing! I could tell she enjoyed walking around and seeing it all though. After that, we met Dad & the boys at Pappy's Pizza for some pizza and play time. It was a nice relaxing day!