4th of July Fun and Then Some

Last week was a busy but fun week. We had tinfoil dinners with neighbors on Monday, a get together with my old college roomies and friends (post about that to come) on Tuesday, and late night fireworks in the neighborhood on Wednesday...and that was all before we left for camping on Thursday morning! By Sunday afternoon we were all so tired that a miracle happened and for a while the entire family was napping. We traditionally go to Bear Lake for the 4th of July, but this year Jer's family's camping trip was the same week so we did both. The kids had a blast both places.

Seth and his cute cousin Addison. She is actually 7 months older than him, and they are starting to play together great.

They spent a lot of time in this "treehouse." Seth must have dragged his little camp chair in and out of there a hundred times. At this point, Seth was so tired he looked like he could fall asleep sitting up.

The smores were a big hit. K'Lee is 9 months older than Luke, but they will both be starting kindergarten in the fall and they are great friends. My boys sure have cute cousins.

Seth loved the smores. He ate two and savored every bite. Long after the other kids were up and running around again, he was sitting in a semi-comatose state steadily eating! He carried that jacket around like Linus from Peanuts the entire trip. He didn't really want it on, but he had to have it with him.

Ian spent a lot of time in the carrier. He had lots of smiles for everyone and even took a few snoozes there. My other kids used it only for hiking and weren't big fans, but he likes it. Little does Ian know that a huge ash popped out of the fire and started his jacket on fire...I guess that was just to keep me on my toes!

Car camping just isn't the same without lots of food. Since we are the only tent campers in the bunch, grandma shared her freezer goods with us. Yum! Jer and the big boys spent the night in the tent while I slept in the trailer with Ian. He slept like a champ as usual. Our only wake-up was when TJ came in to get his mom at 2:30 am. He was taking Amy to the hospital to have her baby! Nothing like camping when you're 9 months pregnant. She was scheduled for a c-section on the 13th but ended up having Tucker early in the morning on the 3rd...what a trooper. I have only seen pics, but he looks darling and I can't wait to meet him...a cousin for Ian.

Jer's uncle's dog Oz is so good with kids. The kids ran him ragged giving him walks and playing fetch. There were actually 4 dogs along on the trip. Luke really wants his own. I told him maybe when he's older...or maybe never. They also did crafts and nature walks with grandma and went on 4-wheel rides with dad or grandpa. Good times.

We left camp on Friday and headed home to do some laundry and get ready to leave the next morning for a day at Bear Lake. Jer fit the Freedom Run in that morning and then we headed. That's a fun event... maybe next year. I've started running again myself but that's also a story for another post. The boys were super grouchy (me too) and not getting along well, but we all regrouped on the way up and had a fun day.

Fun at the pool.

After lunch we hit the beach...both of my boys were zoned out for a while and then got their second winds. It turned out to be a beautiful day, and the adults had a great time just sitting around relaxing.

Ian took a good nap under the canopy. I know a swim suit for a 2-month old is a little silly. It has been around since Seth and still had the tags on, so we put it on just for the cute factor.

Seth spent a lot of time in this trench. He also spent a lot of time playing with the kids in the group next to us. He is such an easygoing, lovable kid.

Does that face look like trouble? The first second we got to the beach he went out into the water and fired up a jet ski that was parked there. That sent a bunch of adults running!

Ian chilled with dad and the rest of the kids played in the sand and water for hours.

After the beach we cooked out at the condo. The boys had 4th of July duds courtesy of Grandma Carolyn.

Jer was a little alarmed but Seth loved this little scooter that Kim had there. He doesn't care if it is pink...he loves anything with wheels on it.

Kim's kids, Tonia's boys, and my boys there somewhere. After a trip to the park for playtime with cousins we decided to head home before the fireworks. Phew...having fun can be exhausting.