The 4th of July

Wow!  What happened to the summer?!  It seemed to just disappear.  I was honestly dreading summer and the fighting that was bound to happen between Pierce and Madi, but once again they surprised me and did pretty well, the first couple of weeks are always a little rough but once they settle into a routine of being with each other all day they did pretty good.  The summer just seemed to fly by and now we've been back in school for a month!  I've got some serious catching up to do!  The highlight of the summer for the kids was our trip north for the 4th of July and Lagoon!  We hadn't been to Huntsville in 3 years so we decided it was time we made it up there and we hadn't been to Lagoon since Madi was a wee 1 year old so it was definitely time.  They were so excited for the trip!  Here are the highlights of the 4th...

 Not the greatest shot ever, but the only one I managed to get of everyone!  They really were excited for the parade, not sure why we couldn't portray it in a photo.

 My Madi Doll in her new Miss Plunkett and special 4th of July outfit

 He's happy to sit on Dad's lap now that he's got some candy in his mouth!

 I know I may have mentioned it a time of two, but wow!  I love my boy's eyes!

Part of our summer-bribing-the-kids-to-be-good, was a sticker chart that they could earn stickers for good behavior, attitude and getting chores done, then each sticker was worth a ticket for our trip, they could choose how they wanted to spend their tickets for extras on the 4th and at Lagoon. 

 Madi chose face painting and loved it!

After the parade the kids enjoyed a few games and bouncy slide and I enjoyed sitting in the shade and seeing old friends.  I love visiting Huntsville on the 4th, it is so fun for me but it makes me just ache for my Mom, I miss her extra on days like this when I see her old friends and our old stomping grounds.  So many memories.  I loved visiting with one of her best friends from growing up, Heather, or "Heath-a"!  As my Mom would say.  I loved seeing Stac and Rod and Teresa and their crew.

 Rod & Teresa, getting a funnel cake and cotton candy from them was a highlight of the day!

Since we don't have a place to call home or crash in Huntsville anymore, we were staying at a hotel in Layton.  After wearing the kids out we drove back to the hotel and luckily got a small nap out of Jensen.  We decided that we better make the most of being in the Ogden area since we don't get up there much anymore and we hit 2 of my favorite spots, El Matador for dinner (Best chips and salsa ever!) and then over to Farr's for some ice cream!  I loved taking my kids here, it was the first time we'd taken them  (I don't think Ryan and I have been since I was pregnant with Pierce)  and such a fun place for special treat.  Love Farr's. 

It was also fun to get a glimpse of the Reconstruction of the Ogden Temple.  Wow!  Completely new!  It's going to be beautiful!  Ogden definitely needs that. 

We headed back to Huntsville for the fireworks and everyone did great, Jensen loved them!  I was watching his face as much as I was watching the fireworks, he was so fascinated!  Love this boy.