4th of July

Yes, I realize this is a couple of weeks late, but a lot has happened since then, which I will blog about later.

So, we had a very fun 4th!! We started out by driving down to Salem on the 3rd, to visit with Nelson's family. We spent time with the kids' grandparents, uncle, auntie and cousin, whom they love and it was just a quiet, calm afternoon of playing and family time.

We went to Independence (near our college) to visit with 2 families of friends that we went to college with, the Comptons and the Lockwoods. There were 2 toddlers and 2 babies, so lots of busy fun and toys! We had a yummy BBQ and did some simple fireworks with/for the kids. Kalaya loved doing the sparklers (with CLOSE supervision) and throwing down the popping ones. (what are those called??) She liked watching 'Mr. David' light and throw some of the slightly more elaborate fireworks. (I have some great sparkler pictures in my phone, but can't get them to upload! grrrr...)

We spent the night with the Comptons and then get up for the 4th of July parade! This must have been very surreal to my husband; he watched this parade for 20+ years, from the time he was my kids' age! It was a simple, small town parade, but Kalaya watched the whole thing and loved waving to all the 'floats' and people. Highlights included Smoky the Bear, a 'pizza man' (Papa Murphy mascot), horses, fire trucks and 'the ANTS mommy!!' (a float depicting a picnic with giant ants on it)

We then drove back to Portland to have another afternoon BBQ with my parents, including burgers, salmon and watermelon. We took a walk together to the park and then finished off with some more of the simple fireworks. We had planned to go watch a local, large fireworks show, but, got some very sad news, which ended the evening abruptly. We had a really nice rest of the 4th, blessed to have been surrounded by friends and family!