Fourth Of July Celebrations!

On July 3rd we went down to Ga-Ga & Pa's house in Orting to celebrate the 4th. We almost didn't come since the kids were in the midst of a tummy bug, but it seemed like they were on the up and up, but then on the way down there Owen threw up in the van. He really wasn't feeling well, but we had already exposed Ga-Ga, Pa, Uncle Ry and Aunt Stephie a few days before so what was done was already done!

Since we were spending the night and everyone had the 4th off and not the 5th we decided to do our fireworks on the 3rd instead. I know I know...I broke the law, but seriously it just makes better sense to me. We didn't go crazy with fireworks either so our show lasted all of 15 - 20 minutes maybe. I bought the smallest boxed set they had and was I in for a shock. My word...inflation has hit fireworks hard!!! Sheesh!

It's amazing how saying the word fireworks got Owen's mind off his tummy ache. He was outside raring to go in no time flat.

See the Solo cups? Another idea I got from Pinterest so the kids wouldn't have sparks get their arms. I was also hoping it would make Ella feel safer, but she wanted nothing to do with holding a sparkler.

We set the fireworks off in the backyard and the kids watched from the covered patio area.

This kid is a total nut!

Ella Bean talking in the show!

Cheesers!

Pretty!

The next day we at a BBQ with family and friends. I didn't take too many pictures though. We had a horrible night sleep so I'm sure that had something to do with it. Ella and Zeke both slept in our room so that was interesting. Zeke went to bed way later than normal and he kept Ella up. He woke me up around 3:15 to eat and then when I went out to go to the bathroom I noticed the door open to the room where Owen and Jack were sleeping. I checked the bathroom, but Owen wasn't there so I checked his room to see if he just wasn't sleeping in the same spot...nope not there. I decided to go check downstairs before I woke Michael up to help find him and there he was sitting on the top step. He was so hungry he couldn't sleep. Since he was puking we didn't let him eat before bed. I took him downstairs and got him some toast. I ended up staying up with him until 6 when my mom got up and then I went back to bed. Needless to say I was TIRED!

Ella and Anna playing in the sandbox!

Uncle Ry got the boys new water squirters...I'm thinking he got that idea from my post about the sprinkler park. The boys have been having a lot of fun with them.

Aunt Stephie had some wonderful snuggle time with Zeke Man!

Later on the 4th I pulled out the Pop Its for the kids to throw. They were all a bit exhausted at this point so they weren't as excited about them as I thought they would be. Oh and do you see their cute outfits...Aunt Stephie LOVES to shop! They looked so festive for the 4th!

During this mini vacation Zeke had a hard time sleeping unless he was being held. Also since he went to bed later on the 3rd his little body got all confused and for 3 days he thought that midnight was 9pm...his normal bedtime. Needless to say we had some late, exhausting nights! On Friday I decided to nip that in the bud so I woke him up at his normal rise and shine time and then kept him to a 3 hour schedule the rest of the day to get him back on track. Praise the Lord for a kid on a schedule!