Sparkle and Shine!

Happy Independence Day! I know it's been a few days, but I hope everyone had a great holiday . . . we sure did!

Independence Day is another holiday that we almost always spend with Ross and Tia. Last year, Tia and I planned a celebration for the church - held at the church building - and it was such a hit that we decided to do the same thing this year. July 3rd was on a Wednesday, so we thought it would work out perfectly to have finger foods, desserts, fellowship, and snacks after our normal Wednesday evening service. We ended up having a great crowd that night with several special visitors (Tia's parents, the Clarks from Minnesota, and Ed from Illinois). Most everyone stayed to visit and eat, and then a smaller crowd stayed for fireworks. 

Caroline and I were ready for some firework fun!

Sadie enjoying her sparkler

Brooke is always up for a good time!

Brecklyn is a little shyer about fireworks than Brooke, but I'd say she really enjoyed them for the first time this year. 

As usual, Ross supplied most of the big fireworks, and he and Chris put on the show for us. Before the "big" show, there were lots of kids and older people with sparklers, black cats, smoke bombs, etc and things got a little crazier than I was comfortable with considering there were small explosives and fire involved! For this reason, I have very few photos from this night because I was too busy trying to keep everyone safe. After things settled down and we all got ready to watch the show, I did take one photo of our littlest viewers :-). 

Brooke, Brecklyn, Sadie, and Caroline 💓

The next day was Independence Day which meant that Chris was off work, and we had some fun activities planned. Up first was going to the movies as a family! During the summer, our local theater does a special movie on Thursday mornings. They typically show something that's a few years old, but the tickets are only a couple dollars. This day they were showing The Lorax, so we decided to go!

Typical mom life - bags under my eyes and arms full of all the things while everyone takes a potty break

We rarely go to the movies because it costs SO much, so this was a special treat, for sure. The kids loved it (despite the faces you see in the photo below, haha). 

After the movie, we went home for an hour or so of rest time because I wanted everyone to be ready for our plans that evening. They all looked super cute in their patriotic gear!

Brianna, Brecklyn, Brenson, and Brooke

That evening, Ross and Tia had invited us to join them at their golf club for a patriotic celebration. Dad, Mom, and the Earls had all been invited as well. The evening began with a {very exciting} bus ride from a nearby elementary school to the club (they did it this way because of parking issues). I've never seen children so excited to ride a bus as mine were that night!

Once we got out to the club, we set up our camp chairs, got food, visited, and let the kids run wild playing games and participating in activities. The whole atmosphere was super relaxed (which was amazing), and it was soooo nice to not have to follow my kids around or watch them like a hawk. The weather was hot (it is July, after all), but not unbearable. Overall, it was just a really nice time!

My kids gravitated to the face painting almost immediately. Well, I should say my girls because Bren wanted nothing to do with that mess, haha!

Brianna

Brecklyn, Sadie, and Brooke (the triplets 😉)

The kids were so happy to run around and eat popcicles . . . sometimes it really is the little things!

They also loved the music and hulahooping!

Brooke was a wild woman (no surprise!)

The lighting was great for taking photos - and I appreciated that everyone was color coordinated - so I took the opportunity to capture some pics. I love them all!

Sweet friends - Brooke, Caroline, Sadie, Brianna, Brenson, Chloe, and Brecklyn

Mom and Chelle

Chelle and Lisa

Mom and Dad

Tia and Chelle

Chloe and Brianna

Brecklyn and G-Jo

This one is probably my favorite . . . it just makes me smile! 

Ross, Chris, and Russ

Once it got dark, the golf club put on an incredible fireworks show, complete with music (which makes everything better in my opinion). It was one of the best shows we had ever seen!

When it was time to leave, almost everyone who was there had to take a bus back to where most of the cars were parked. It was a crowd of people and only two busses, but the crowd wasn't staggered like it had been when people were arriving. Ross had parked his truck by the clubhouse, so he offered to take our (6) camp chairs for us so that we didn't have to mess with them on the bus. I didn't want to get separated from Chris because it was dark and crowded - and Ross couldn't carry all of our chairs plus his by himself - so our whole family walked with their whole family to Ross's truck. Once we got to Ross's truck, Ross and Tia decided that both of our families (10 people!) could all ride in Ross's truck over to the school where our van was parked. So, they put the girls' carseats in the bed of the truck, and we all piled in! Chris and I sat in the back with all six kids, and {amazingly} we all fit ok. We were grateful that we didn't have to wait on the bus, and the kids thought riding in the truck all together was the most fantastic thing! On the way home, we asked each child what their favorite part of the day had been, and Brooke exclaimed, "Riding free (not in a car seat) in Ross's truck!" Haha! Like I said above, sometimes it really is the little things that are the most fun!