On Saturday, July 2, we celebrated Independence Day with our friends Chris & Lisa and their daughter Isabella. They had invited us over to their house for a cookout and to see the Marietta fireworks, which I think has become a yearly tradition. At first I was nervous when they asked us because we hadn't had any major outings with little Ryan yet. But, then I realized that we're going to have to get comfortable being out and about with another baby, and if there's anyone who would have the utmost grace for us, it's our friends. They are really a fantastic family. Here they are pictured below with their dog Bailey.
Last year we got a great shot of our family on their deck. This year, the boys wanted nothing to do with taking a family picture. But, this is our family of five (below). It's crazy to even say that... a family of five. On a side note, we went out to dinner recently and I said "there's five in our party." It sounded strange to me! And I realized that we no longer fit at a regular small table. I also smiled as I was doing laundry and added another pile to the folded washed clothes. I'm so happy to have little Ryan in our family! And our other boys!
Joshua & Caleb love little Isabella, who is in between the two in age. They had a great time playing with her while we were there! We also feasted on grilled hot dogs, cheeseburgers, homemade macaroni salad, strawberries, chips, cupcakes and brownies. And we listened to music and chatted about current events and life in general.
We are praying for our friends that they can have another baby - please join us in praying for them! They have a big heart for children, and Lisa took some great pictures of little Ryan.
She also took some great shots of the boys enjoying the sand box at their house. The kids were a mess afterward, but they had fun. Caleb also loves their dog and would follow it around.
As it started getting dark, we saw more fireflies come out. The kids were intrigued to catch some. I would guess most of the rest of these pictures were taken after 8:30 pm, our typical bed time for the boys. I was nursing Ryan on a chair on their deck while they were out in the yard, starting to do sparklers. I love the photo of Joshua & Isabella below! The Bean was wearing his flag shirt from Mamaw that she had bought him. Caleb wore Joshua's old shirt from two years ago, and I convinced Daddy to wear his flag shirt.
While the boys LOVED sparklers last year, they were terrified of them this year. Joshua didn't want to get burned, and even though we showed him how to hold them that he wouldn't get hurt, he was NOT interested. Caleb follows his big brother's lead, so he would only pull on Daddy's arm when he had one but would not take one himself. Isabella, on the other hand, had a blast with them once again!
We tried to do more sparklers on July 4th at our house, but the boys weren't interested once again. We'll try again next year!
The boys plopped down next to each other, which was so cute! They were watching Isabella do her sparklers. They loved watching them; they just didn't want to hold them.
It was almost 9:30 when we told the boys to get their shoes back on and I burped baby Ryan and we headed out to the fireworks in Marietta. I loved the photo of Caleb below!
We parked at the same spot as last year, which gives us great parking and a fantastic view of the fireworks without being right underneath them. The guys went inside to buy us a soda and didn't come out for over half an hour. Chris knew someone inside and they were all talking while Lisa & I chatted and the kids had fun. Thankfully, Ryan fell asleep in the car on the way over and continued sleeping on top of me while I sat in my chair.
Isabella & Caleb were snuggling while they waited for the fireworks. He put his arm around her and told her it was okay, and gave her a little kiss. She did the same to him. It was SO cute! We told Joshua that Caleb had taken his little girlfriend. He could have cared less - he wanted to see the fireworks! He kept asking when they would start.
About 10:30 the skies lit up with a beautiful display of colors and lights... but the banging noise scared the Bean, even though we had reminded him that fireworks are LOUD! He told us that he was tired and wanted to go home. And he begged to get in the minivan. I said sure. Caleb wanted to follow his big brother once again. While they were so excited for fireworks, the boys didn't last long. I think they were both tired. I was afraid it would be Ryan who didn't make it, and he slept through all the noise and lights. Since both boys wanted in the van, I suggested we just go. We bid our friends farewell and thanked them for inviting us along. We had a great time with them once again! Shawn joked on the ride home that we beat the traffic leaving. :)
It was almost midnight until we got the boys in their PJs and tucked into bed. Joshua was still up before 6 am the following day. But, he was a bit touchy, as we could tell he was extra tired. We still had a nice long weekend for the 4th of July. Shawn accomplished lots of yard work that needed done, and I got our house cleaned, which again needed it. It was also nice to be home together, and it was fantastic to hang out with our friends. Happy 4th of July!
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