4th of July

We had quite the week of fun leading up to the 4th of July. To beat the heat we had a fun water play get together for one of our Mom's group.  The kiddos loved helping me get the water balloons all filled up.  It amazes me how much time it takes to get the balloons all ready and your fingers to get all red and swollen for the balloons to last not even half the time you put into them.  But I suppose the squeals of delight are all worth it!  It was so sweet to see all the little ones Jack's age that were more into the clean up than the actual water balloon fight. He was so proud of the little handful of balloon bits he brought to me.  Jayson and I were very excited to surprise the kiddos by taking them to the circus.  It was amazing! Boy, has the circus changed since I remember going as a kid.  I was just as amazed and excited as the kids were.  Our neighborhood had a 4th of July Block party that was a lot of fun.  The kids got to participate in their first bicycle parade but we had a few technical difficulties.  Jack is still being stubborn about pedaling and with all the decorations we added to Ellie's bike she was having trouble getting her bike to go.  So Jayson and I got to join in and be part of the parade pushing our little munchkins.  It was great to have a chance to meet more of our neighbors and hopefully it will become a tradition for our block.      

Bubble Fun...

I broke out my family fun binder for some new outdoor fun.

They kept wanting to breath in which would cause the foamy
bubbles to fill up the bottle as well.

I have always wanted to try making these bubble snakes
and it went over pretty well.

Ellie liked playing with the foamy bubbles best.

Ellie was working on a little fireworks picture that turned out really cute.

Play-date fun at The Jungle Room...

They had a little bit of everything...
 painting, playdough, puzzles and a jump house.

Ellie and Jack took the stage for a little Karaoke singing Frozen.

Jack would mainly just follow Ellie around.

They loved the ball pit!

These kiddos don't hurt for having fun.

 My Handsome Little Pirate...

He can't be without his sword and shield
 when it's time for playing Jake.

Since Jack has props I had to make Ellie a little pixie dust necklace.

A few 4th of July preparations...

Gotta have some red, white, and blue Popsicles.

Making some more fireworks.

Now it's time for some homemade ice cream.

My little shaking helpers.

Presto we've got ice cream!

4th of July 2014...

Got their red, white and blue on!

 Love the way Jack posed after seeing Ellie pose!

What kid doesn't love to wave the mini flags?!

Decorating bikes for the parade.

Ellie didn't want to cover up her princesses
so we had to make sure we worked around them.

The CIRCUS!!

He was ready to be entertained!

Ellie was so excited she kept saying, "that's like in my Clifford book."

Jack's favorite part was the motorcycles.
Ellie's favorite was a clown bit with a hot air balloon.

We had such a fun filled July 4th.  The kiddos loved playing in the baby pool that was along side the big blow up water slide at our block party.  Ellie got to go down it a few times with one of the older kiddos but Jack was just too little.  I couldn't believe Ellie was willing to go down it after watching those kids flying down it.  Only a couple times was enough for her.  When it was time for fireworks Jack and Ellie were more than ready.  They sat in their lawn chairs and kept hollering at Jayson, "Be careful Daddy!" 

The circus was a great little added bonus to throw in there on the 4th.  I couldn't get over how amazing some of the acts were.  Jayson and I were hooping and hollering just as loud as the kids were.  As we were talking about our favorite parts on the drive home I had a really hard time picking a favorite.  Ellie is so use to me asking what her favorite part is about the things we do, that she was the one that brought up the question on the way home. I loved that!