4th of July weekend

Our 4th of July weekend started friday afternoon with Paul finishing his national board exams.  He has been studying like crazy for the last 6 weeks so it was so nice to have him be done and not have to study all weekend.  On Saturday we got up early and headed to Boulder City for the Damboree Parade.  We got there and found a spot and ended up sitting next to some really nice people.  They let us sit under their umbrellas so we weren't in the sun the whole time and offered us sunscreen and cold water.  We soon noticed that everyone around us had giant super soakers, buckets of water and water balloons.  Our neighbors soon informed us that at the end of the parade many of the entries are water entries and come down the route throwing water balloons and spraying water on the parade goers and the parade goers spray water right on back.  Well it turned into a giant water fight.  At one point a huge water truck came down the street just spraying people down, and it got us too. 

Greydon chilled in his stroller most of the parade and really was so happy to watch the parade go by

Leila was so concerned about getting a flag to wave during the parade, luckily right as the parade started a flag fell off a float right in front of us so she was happy and content waving her flag at all the people

Leila showing me all her poses, seriously love this girl!

Our family at the parade, I should have pulled Greydon out of the stroller for the picture but he was so content I didn't want to shuffle him around

Right after we got sprayed by the water truck Leila was not too happy about it, she didn't want to leave but preferred to stand closer to the sidewalk than the street

The huge water fight, it was actually crazier then this but by the time I decided to take a picture it had died down a bit, next time we will come more prepared to participate

On Sunday evening we went out in our yard and did sparklers and popits

After doing sparklers we headed back to Boulder City to watch fireworks.  Again we didn't quite know what to expect but found that next time we need to leave earlier because we had to park really far away.  When we got to the park it was crazy, people had pulled their campers and trailer right up to the park and everyone was having BBQ's and picnics.  Even though it said no personal fireworks people were lighting of fireworks all over the place, so it was fun to watch those before the big firworks started. 

Leila was a little chicken this year, she was really nervous about the fireworks and did not like the loud booms.  She kept her hands over her ears the entire time we watched fireworks but she did ooh and ahh over watching them

Greydon loved the fireworks! I was nervous he would start screaming because he gets startled from loud noises.  But to our surprise he loved them, he sat leaning foward in his stroller the entire time and didn't take his eyes off the show.

On Monday Leila had her swimming lessons so we decided to stay and play at the rec center afterwards.  Jordan, Rachele and Beckham joined us for  the fun. 

Poor Beckham fell down the slide and got a fat lip

Greydon is so busy and is at the stage where he won't stay put.  At home it is nice because he can move all around and explore all he wants but when we are out and about it becomes really difficult.  At the pool he kept crawling from the shallow water to the deep water.  Luckily Paul was there to help so we could each take a kid. 

There was a waterfall of water that Leila was determined to run through without getting wet but to her dismay everytime she got wet.  But she was determined and tried over and over again. 

That evening we had a BBQ with Larsen's and Reece (our neighbor, his family was out of town).  The kids were so exhausted from the day at the pool that they were both asleep before 7, Leila actually fell asleep on her bedroom floor.  It was a great weekend and we loved spending it together as a family and being able to celebrate and be thankful for all the freedoms we enjoy from this great country!