4th of July!

 Like Memorial Day, we hosted again on the 4th while my parents are in the process of purging belongings and cleaning out their house.  :)  It was a HOT day around here, so having the pool was a huge hit for the kids.  I feel like there were 6 kids in the pool at all times, just rotating players.  We have over 25 people here for the day!  Great times!

Never mind the dirt under the table...I'm betting Jonas is going to make something beautiful to replace it soon.

A very sad picture, I know, but the food was WELL above average this year.  Nicely done, family!  

My friends Lauren and Ryan don't have AC at their house right now.
They sat inside a LOT.  :)

Cora pushing Harrison and Cora on the swings.
Cora LIVES to take care of Harrison (he's one of the kids she goes to be a "Mother's Helper" for on Monday afternoons.)

Layla gave a small violin concert:

Our WHOLE family went to see fireworks this year.  I don't think I've gone in well over 6 years?  It's just not my thing.  Sleep is my thing.  And not being in heat.  And not getting eaten alive by our state bird. etc.  But, overall it went great this year, I do have to admit.  Normally, in the past 2 years, Jonas takes off with the older 2 around 8:00 to get a "good seat" and I stay home with sleeping Cora.  (the best)  But this year we were hosting until 9:00 p.m., so we finally kicked the Horsmans out and then took off with a few new friends for the park.  Going at 9:00 is for sure the way to go, not 8:00.  I can't imagine waiting for TWO HOURS in the park for them to start...haha!  We almost had a crisis when I realized at 3:00 p.m. that day, though, that Cora had not been put down for a nap.  She only naps when we force her to due to something special being scheduled, and we had been so busy preparing to party that we just forgot.  So, I quick forced her to fall asleep at 3:00, so she DID manage to stay awake until the fireworks started at 10:00, but she also crashed hard at 11:00.  It all worked out well, but if I had stayed home with Cora we would have all had hell to pay from her for days after...that girl does not forget any.thing.  Mind like a steel trap, this one!  :)  I went to the dollar store the day before and got tons of glow in the dark stuff.  Is that a thing everywhere else?  Here it's HUGE.  You are a loser at MN fireworks if you don't have glow in the dark things to play with.  So, easy enough to fix..anything that can be fixed by going to the dollar store I'll gladly fix.

Some of our fireworks show: