Fourth of July- A Little Late!

Our Fourth of July was really fun! Our neighborhood has an annual 4th celebration, this year it was on the 3rd since there were so many people on the POA that would be gone. It also helps that our good friend Aubrey is on the POA, and knew we had a church activity the night of the 4th and didn't want to miss that either.

A friend of mine made these and I thought I'd try them out. They didn't turn out as well as hers did- but they were so good!

Brittney and I enjoying the field of bugs!
Like I've said in previous posts- we've had a lot of rain lately! So the normal place we would have had the neighborhood fireworks is full of water- so we improvised. I have learned that int he summer here you don't go anywhere with out bug spray when you're going to be out around dusk! Darrell mocks me, but guess who usually grabs the bug spray first now?! Yep- it's him! We went to the newly assigned area for the show- it's not just a little show- everything is legal here! They had some incredible fireworks! We got the the assigned area and the first thing i noticed what this horrible smell- a nice cow smell- yummy! Then I realized we were meeting in a field that had just been mowed- a big weed fields- so the bugs were terrible! We got the chairs set up and re- sprayed with bug spray, then we were ready for fun! The kids loved it! They had all kinds of fun things int he streets for the kids- they had cars blocking the road off. I didn't get pictures of the fireworks because i was int he car with Ashlee. She is incredibly aware of the weather and knew a storm was coming- so once she saw lightning she was DONE! I told her it was far away but nothing would calm her down. Darrell sat out with Lexi, Carly, and Brittney, and the rest of the neighborhood- and REALLY got to watch the fireworks!

The kids loved all the bubbles, sparklers and chalk.

Carly and Anna- they wouldn't put down the bubble wands- they were afraid someone would take them while they did chalk!

The night of the 4th we went to our ward BBQ, with in the first 10 minutes of being there Lexi was playing tag with some friends and ran right into a muddy field and fell! She had this horrified look on her face- she was covered! The good thing was when she got up it was mainly grass and water she was covered with and she dried quickly. We went to Rogers- a city next to us- and watched the fireworks. It was great! I kept thinking about fire hazards, but then I remember we don't live in the desert any more! We planned on going home and doing out fireworks after- but it was too late and we were tired.

July 5th- man we had a lot of celebrating to do! We went out intending to our fireworks- but of course there was a storm coming. You could feel it in the air- it was so thick and muggy! We let the kids run in the sprinkler for a while then we let off 3 or 4 fireworks. We thought they were fountains, but realized as they flew up in the air and exploded over our house we shouldn't be doing these in the wind! So the kids got to ride scooters before the lightning got really bad and we had to go in. The storm that night was incredible! I was so afraid it was going to be a tornado! It was just a severe thunderstorm, but the wind picked up and then there was hail! It was so loud- luckily my kids had just fallen asleep and were in deep enough sleep they didn't budge. It also helped that Lexi and Ashlee asked to have cotton balls in their ears so they wouldn't hear the storm. It went on for about an hour and wasn't moving away! Finally it let up and we got a few pictures of the hail. The pictures were taken after a half hour of rain- and it still didn't melt the hail- that's how much there was. Brittney was out with friends from work and called saying the road was flooded. I thought at first she was being wimpy- until she told me there was a car stuck int he middle of the road with water up tot he bumper. She wouldn't have noticed the flood water, except she saw the car. The tons of people trying to flag her down to tell her not to cross didn't jump out at her! This flood was just down the street- luckily we are up a little hill, so we didn't get much damage. Some of our neighbors were not so lucky. Houses were flooded, fences were ripped up out of the ground, roof damage- it was just plain nuts! We were very blessed to not have any damage! Our trampoline stayed where it should- because it has been tied to the stairs ever since it blew away last time! Those stairs work great!!

Love the toothless grin!

Lexi didn't really want to stop riding for a quick picture- glad she did!

Carly is always up for a picture!
July 6th- we finally got to do our fireworks! I forgot to take pictures though! The kids loved it and were so happy to finally be able to do ours! We loved our many days of celebration and are so thankful for the freedom's we have and enjoy each day!

This is just one of the pictures- the hail was so loud!!! It was dime size, but by the time we took pictures it had melted to piles that looked like snow!