may the 4th be with you

when 5 boys get together
you just never know what creative play they're going to come up with
I'm so proud of this human slingshot game they came up with
especially as I watched my 3 year old get shot all the way across the yard
---well, maybe he exaggerated a little....---

I guess when you're a boy you never get tired of creative play
and blowing things up is especially intriguing

I'll just say that our time together with friends
involved not only burgers and star-spangled brownies
but also some exploding 2-liter soda bottles
who knew 
aluminum foil and toilet bowl cleaner had such a volatile relationship
(this is not a tutorial on explosives, blog readers.....
this is a warning not to flush Reynolds Wrap and then go on a cleaning spree....)

at one point Justin
came out of the house wielding his machete from Grenada
to save the day when one of the experiments went south
-----such a proud moment for our boys----

moving on....
the parade was the highlight of the morning of the 4th
and Caleb, especially, was LIT UP
about the whole experience
the music, the candy, the brochures that he collected.....
he was one amped up 5 year old by the time we returned home

I'm sorry I just had to capture this on my camera
I'm laughing just looking at this pic of my hubs  

I was really excited about being the super mom who brought scissors
 to the parade to cut the tops of her kids popsicles
I mean.....like how prepared is that anyways?!
Sorry, Babe, the joke was on you as you cut and cut and cut
all the random parade goers popsicles that were sitting around us

such a servant's heart, I tell ya......

and here's the girlie cousins hangin
together at the parade
it would've been really nice to get a shot of Charity actually looking
but we're 14 months old now
and all you experienced moms out there know exactly what that means
(good luck with the cute posed smiley pics of the past....)

sparklers are the bomb
excuse my reference to the late 90's
but I just love watching the sparklers do their thing
(oh.  and the delighted looks on my kiddos faces.....of. course.)

I'm not exactly sure
if I've secured coolest aunt ever award yet.....
but my nephew Josh had some fun pouring these patriotic drinks
happy birthday, Josh!


that was our fun weekend....
how was yours?!

have a SUPER day, all