4th of July Fun

I was so glad that Tristan was home for the 4th of July again this year.  He actually flew in a day earlier than he was supposed to, so we got an extra day of celebrating in with him!  On the 3rd we went to the fireworks stand that was set up in the field right behind our house.  The boys had been watching the stand and their HUGE inflatables every day out of our living room window, so they were really excited to get to go visit it.  We decided to take some pictures with the inflatables since they almost seemed like members of our family with the amount of time our boys spent watching and talking about them!  LOL!

 This purple dragon was really the one that Carter was interested in.  Every night when they deflated it, he would get all concerned and be so relieved when it was up and going again in the morning

Normally we watch the fireworks show on the 4th with friends over at Barclift Park.  But this year, we decided to try the Bush Park Show instead.  We didn't think we had the energy for two late nights in a row, so we just opted for one fireworks show this year.  Tristan had a meeting until around 8 that evening for church, so we were grateful the Marlatts got there nice and early and saved us some great spots!

We brought a bunch of glow sticks and let the boys run around, have fun, eat treats and burn some energy while we waited for the show to start!

 Me and the boys

 We thought the show was great (but we aren't hard to please at all)!  We had a great view and by the end the boys were begging for more (even though they were a little uncertain about the loud booms the whole show).

 The next morning we were up bright and early to get ready for the parade.  We didn't go last year because Tristan flew in on the 4th of July, so it was new and fresh for them.  It was a beautiful, HOT morning and we were lucky enough to get a great spot right on the street, sitting on the sidewalk so we had a great view.

Ashton loved playing with his flag.

 The Tumwater Parade isn't really anything special, but it has everything our boys deem necessary for a good parade:

Emergency vehicles (old and new)...

 Cool, fast cars...

 Animals...

 Tractors...

 ...and a horse, painted like a flag.  Well, maybe the boys don't deem that necessary, but it was sure interesting to see!  :)

 We came home and spent some time unwinding during quiet time.  For a treat we made these patriotic layered drinks.  They were really yummy (and pretty, too)!

 Then we headed out to the driveway to do some of our daytime fireworks.

 Got to love Pop-Its!

 They also really liked the tanks we bought.

We did our traditional BBQ hot dogs and burgers for dinner and strawberry shortcake for dessert (with some blueberries thrown in for extra yumminess).  We had planned on going as a family to the park just to visit with our friends while they waited for the show to start, but Ashton was burned out.  So Tristan took the boys to play for an hour or so while I put Ashton to bed.  When they got back, we finished our night-time fireworks off and let the boys stay up later than planned to watch the fireworks in our neighborhood.  Man, our neighbors put on a great show!  Then Tristan and I scooted our couch up to the living room window and watched the fireworks stand workers put on another great show.  We had the perfect view!  We were worn out and fell asleep on the couch, but it was a great day.  We love celebrating this great nation we live in and honoring those who sacrifice and serve to make it what it is!

Kicking Off Summer Vacation!!

This kid finished preschool!  He had a great year and I can really see a difference in a lot of his social skills and his ability to express himself.  He's even reading basic sight words already, which was more than I expected.  I'm so glad that his first year of school was a good experience for him and that he is looking forward to Kindergarten next year.

 He wanted to be silly, so here he is!

 Father's day weekend brought with it the airshow.  We really enjoy going down there to watch, but this year it was really hot and we had a crawling baby, so we cut it a little short.  We also didn't get many pictures because of the chasing around we were doing, but it was fun to go down for a little bit and hang out with our friends, the Marlatts.

This kid decided that he wanted to start practicing walking. He loved pushing this lion around and walking with it.  It was so fun to hear him giggle with delight as he pushed it in front of himself.

 We met Kelly, Anderson and a few other friends down at the Hands on Children's Museum to splash in the river.  It was kind of chilly so I was a little surprised at how well Ashton did.  But he loved it, in true water baby fashion!

 He especially loved this little fountain that bubbled up every once in awhile.

 The boys had a great time.  They spend most of their time all the way down at the very end (they are the orange shirts you can barely see down there), so I didn't get any good pictures of them.

 Ashton waiting on that fountain!

 There it is!!

 He LOVED playing in it.

 The next week we had another really hot day, so we went with Kelly and Anderson to a new splash park for us.  The boys really had a good time, and especially loved the train tracks nearby because they got to watch a train drive by at a close distance!

Carter doesn't love being splashed, so he spent a lot of time on this pirate ship.

 Ashton wished I would let him splash more, on the other hand.  So he enjoyed every minute of this rock fountain.

 The boys ended up getting into a water fight with some of the other kiddos at the park.  They were all getting their "ammo" here at this water ladder.

 A view of the whole water park...

 ...and the attached playground on the other side.

The splash pads up in Tacoma are one of our favorite ways to cool down on our hot days during the summer.  So glad that Kelly invited us to check out a new one to cool off at!

Family Pictures 2014

I decided to hold off on taking family pictures this year until Ashton was old enough to actually sit up and be seen in them, which worked out well because that put up right at the end of the beautiful spring weather.  We asked our friend Christie Marlatt to take them again because we really liked working with her and really liked her prices, too!  :)  She recommended Ft. Steilacoom Park and we LOVED it.  Our boys especially loved the playground that we played on at the end!

She got some really good, silly ones of Ethan (almost 5 here)

 Love this one of our whole family

 Me and my boys...Love how they are showing Ashton some love in this one!

 I also like that she got some of just the boys and Tristan

 Brotherly love!

 Another silly one of Ethan!

 She also managed to get some not-so-silly ones of Ethan, which was quite the feat!

 I love this one of me and Carter!

 The ones of Ashton are so, so sweet!  (About 8 months old here)

 Another great family shot!

 This is one of my favorites...all of my boys together.

 I love how sweet and gentle Carter is being in these pictures.

 This sums up our pace of life!

 Carter was tricky that day.  He didn't really cooperate very well with getting a picture of just him.  But right at the end she managed to nab one!  I love this picture of him.  (Almost 3 here)

 In heaven on a tractor!

 This is just a little real-life shot for you!

 Me and my sweet Ashton.  I love the blossoms in the background.

I love having such great pictures to capture certain seasons of our life.  I know it will be all too soon that my boys tower over me in our family pictures, and then I will have these ones to look back on when they were just small.  :)