Independence Day

This wasn't actually on Independence Day, but we have sure been enjoying the awesome snow cones by our house! Yum!

And I think Katie's eyes are awesome...

Our plans for Independence Day didn't start until about 2:00pm. The kids thought this was completely unacceptable and that we were not sufficiently celebrating this significant day. Then, they got sent to their rooms until they were ready to be happy...as they were crying when they told me this. Once they came back, I hopped on Pinterest with them, and we found some fun Independence Day crafts. Then it was off to Smith's to see what craft supplies we could find to do these crafts. 

We ended up with some pop rocks for firework cookies, as well as stuff to make firework shirts. This cheered the kids up considerably.

That afternoon, we went to a park and played water kickball with a large group of people. It was pretty fun! The kids LOVED all the little pools!

Maliya and Rachel even tried playing the game. They got a couple of really good kicks in!

After the park, it was off to Brad and Gayle's house for hotdogs and more playing.
Around 8:00, we went home, got the kids in their PJ's and all ready for bed, then we went and parked on Traverse Mountain, where we had an excellent view of all the fireworks in the valley! It was pretty awesome...or it would have been...if we had lasted very far into the night. The sun didn't set until 9:00, which means it doesn't really get dark until 9:30 or so. By then, the kids were having break down after break down. We went home and got the kids in bed by 10:00. We instructed them that, in the morning, when they woke up, they were to close their eyes and go back to sleep. We told them that if they did this, they would get treats, in the morning.
They slept in until 10:00!

They definitely earned their treats!
After church, they changed into their new firework shirts! So fun! I told them to say "Independence Day!" for the picture. Rachel kept saying "ENGLAND!"instead... What a goose!