4th of July Weekend

      We had a very busy 4th of July weekend.  Since the 4th fell on a Saturday this year, we got a little creative with our plans.  Our tradition is to go to my parent's house for a BBQ and watch the fireworks.  I  didn't want to miss an entire weekend at the cabin so we decided to squeeze a quick trip in.  We headed up to the cabin on Thursday afternoon.  We had a great time a usual unwinding and soaking up lots and lots of nature.  It was very much needed!
     On the morning of the 4th, we headed down to Buena Vista bright and early.  My brother, sister and I were running a race down there.  They had a really neat pancake breakfast that Joey took the kids to.  Our race started a bit late, but it was a really fun one.  The course took us along the Arkansas River which was beautiful.  It was more of a trail race than I am used to, but it was such a neat course.  I would definitely run that race again!  My brother ran like a rockstar and managed to pull of 3rd place with some really stiff competition there.  Way to go Steven!
    After the race, there was a parade.  I have never been to a small town parade before and I just loved it.  It seemed the whole town was lined up on Main Street to watch.  There were all sorts of different floats and they all threw out candy.  Dawson loved that part!  Ashlyn got to be in the parade with her grandma and grandpa.  They have a pony, named Doc who pulls a cart.  Ashlyn got to ride in the cart with her grandma.  She absolutely loved it!  We had a really nice time.
     After the parade, we grabbed a quick breakfast and hopped in the car to head back home.  We got home with just enough time to take quick showers and then we headed over to my parent's house.  We had a great time.  We went to the park, we had a burger bar, the kids threw poppers, and we waited for the fireworks to go off.  Like every year, they went off late.  They go off at the end of a baseball game so there is no way of knowing when they go off.  Like usual, most of the kids fell asleep before they got to see them.  All that anticipation with no show.  They still had a great time.
    We couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July weekend.  It was full of family, fun times, and lots of good food!

Entertainment at the cabin includes watching the hummingbirds.  

Love cabin life!

The scenery can't be beat!

Going for a ride

Stopping to look for wildflowers

Seriously, I will never, ever get sick of these views!

Silly daddy!  Gracie fell asleep and was out like a light!

Busy day in St Elmo

Our river dog

Looking for more wild flowers

Gracie is very creative when she needs a seat

Enjoying a peach

She loves peaches

Joey doing his thing on the grill

The start of the race

Ella feeling patriotic 

There they go

There I am looking like a dork like usual

Katy running

Our cheering squad

He was definitely pushing it!

Such a good brother

This was me at the end feeling the pain.  My brother was running next to me trying to cheer me on

All done! Yay!

Katy finishing

The start of the parade

Ashlyn in the cart .  Isn't Doc the cutest?

Ashlyn is even cuter though

How patriotic they look!

Jameson had a great view

Mommy with her sweet girl

Gracie and Auntie

Getting ready to do some chalk art

She was eating something good

Her outfit was clean at one point.  It didn't last long.  

Gracie wants to be a big kid and wants to ride a scooter

Ashlyn's artwork

Walking to the park

Ready to play

I love this shot of Dawson

We always have so much fun at the park

This park is at the elementary school my siblings and I went to.  This exact slide was there when I was in first grade and I remember loving it.  Its neat to see how much our kids love it now.  

Jameson flying down the slide

Doing some climbing

They had so much fun together

Playing with poppers