4th of July Weekend

We had a great holiday weekend! We started it off with a before and after fireworks party at my sister's house. We BBQ, then walk to the fireworks, and back to their house for dessert. The mile long walk in between courses allows you to eat much more! It was a great fireworks display with all of our standard firework traditions - glowsticks, friends, blanket (no chairs), family, wagon, and Twizzlers - apparently that's what my kids have come to expect for July 4th.
(Notice Ryan's shirt - he's very proud that he's not spent $5 on an Old Navy flag shirt since 2002. He just crosses out the digit with fabric paint each year and adds a new one. That's another family tradition.)

The fireworks were on the 3rd, so we celebrated the 4th with friends. We went for a swim with the five little girls at my Dad's house. Then we came back to our house for dinner. The girls played with every Barbie we own in the living room. It was a serious mess - like Barbie exploded, but it sure kept the girls, ages 2 - 8, happy for a while. Brad made some delicious ribs and pulled pork to go with our grilled veggies. We ended the night with an outside fire, s'mores, watching neighbors' fireworks, and firefly catching - perfect!
I couldn't make this picture of Trudy go the right direction - Blogger must have been confused by it. But, I wanted to show what happens when five little girls roast marshmallows around a little chocolate lab girl - just add a graham cracker and you're done!