4th of July 2013

I am finally getting around to posting about the 4th of July this year. For some reason, this holiday is one of my favorites. I don't know if it's because it is really the only holiday in the middle of summer or the fact that it (usually) combines four things that I love...grilling, swimming, ice cream, and fireworks. Whatever the reasons...I love it. This year we spent the holiday at my parents' house again. Another thing I love...this photo of my family....

My mom and dad served up a fabulous meal for all of us...burgers, hot dogs, sweet potato fries, corn on the cob, baked beans, more dips than I could count, and cupcakes and brownie sundaes for dessert.

We always have some family and/or friends celebrate with us and this year was no different. My brother and sister-in-law were there, of course. And also my cousin, Cassie, and her husband, Andrew. We also had a long-distance friend, Sam Twumasi from Ghana with us.

This photo is a result of Casey commandeering my camera for about 5 minutes. So, hey...I was there too.

The boys chose the colorful blue cupcakes for their dessert treat. I just love dark, colored icing, don't you? Other moms will instantly know what I mean by this.

Ethan approves.

And this photo is equal parts hilarious and terrifying to me. He kind of looks like a junior zombie.

After dinner, it was time to hit the pool. We totally ignore that bogus rule about not swimming for 20 minutes after you eat. (If you look closely, you can see remnants of blue icing on Ethan's teeth.)

This cute one stuck around the steps of the pool for a while.

But Ethan took off...

And did a little jumping, of course.

Equipped for swimming now with his goggles and puddle jumper, Logan can begin to play.

He often plays up in the fountain.

Or makes someone stand in front of him while he jumps. My sweet, patient cousin, Cassie, obliged his whims (bless her).

And Ethan actually learned a fun skill on this night...how to swim down to the bottom of the pool by himself to get dive sticks/toys. Previously, he could get down there with a little push from us. But, with some coaching from daddy and Cassie, he figured out how to really swim hard straight down. One of the ways he helped his descent was to jump right on top of the target toy.

But, he eventually learned to just stick his rear up in the air and get himself down there without having to jump first.

Success! He was so proud and has continued to enjoy this skill this summer.

Logan got out and wrapped up in a towel...but felt that he still needed his goggles.

We all got out shortly thereafter and got dressed again. After playing inside for a while (for the kids) and talking (for the adults), I brought out the bubble guns we had just gotten at Sea World the week before. I figured they would give the boys something to do as we passed the time until after the sun set and the fireworks began.

And this is when I should have taken the time to dig out my flash and put it on my camera for these shots. But, I was just too lazy since I knew I didn't want it for firework photos later. It is actually much darker than it looks in these photos and I was pushing the limits of my camera's low-light capabilities. (Lots of grain.)

Not a lot to be said about the bubbles. They're bubbles...kids love them. The boys had a blast.

After it was good and dark, we started moving chairs to the street to watch the fireworks. I pulled out the two glow sticks I'd been saving for a while...they were red, white, and blue and sort of looked like mini light sabers.

And then...the main event. Fireworks! This is one of the only times (if not the only time) that we allow our boys to stay up this late. And this is only their second year to do it. But fireworks are worth it.

This year, I changed my settings just slightly and decreased my shutter speed a bit to catch some more "movement" in the fireworks. (In combination with a tripod and remote shutter release.) I liked the results.

I loved watching the boys faces by the light of the fireworks as they watched the show.

As I was sorting through my firework photos this year, I couldn't help but start seeing some shapes. This one looks like a bit like a Truffula tree to me...

And when I clicked the shutter too early for this shot, my camera caught the firework just as it started to explode...so we have a birthday candle....

And finally, I see an ice cream cone in this one. Possibly a scoop of mint chocolate chip on the left and strawberry on the right. Or maybe this is just like those ink blot prints in which you see what you want to see. Very possible. Either way, we had another wonderful 4th of July celebration this year.