4th of July

We went to visit Scott's sister and her family for the long weekend and had such a wonderful time! It's so hard living so far away from family, but we made the best of our 4 days and packed in a lot of fun while we were there. They have 7 kids (!) and the boys just ADORE their cousins. The oldest 3 are girls and they're such great helpers with the little ones. Between our two families there were 7 boys age 8 and younger! Mister, Pumpkin and Baby Bear all have boy cousins born within months of each other and they are like best buds, thick as thieves, stuck like glue, partners in crime, etc. You get the picture. :)

If our boys could describe heaven to you, I'm pretty sure it would look like this weekend did: Get up early, play with cousins. Play with cousins all day long, indoors, outdoors on their 2+ acres, on the piano, on the in-ground trampoline, on the built-in stone fire pit (un-lit, obviously), in the garage, on the computer/iPads, stay up way past bedtime and sleep in cousins' room. Repeat. Throw in a trip to the lake for swimming and tubing, a super fun town parade and the best small-town firework display I've ever seen and you've got one fun trip on your hands. Can't wait to do it all over again! :)

Baking banana bread for the car trip. Couldn't let those ripe bananas go to waste. :)

Such a doll baby.

Mister enjoying an Otter Pop at the town parade.

Cool shades.

Such a tender moment between Scott and Baby Bear. I LOVE the freckle on his knee.

Pumpkin was steamed after he got wet in the drive-by "splash zone" of the parade. Definitely not amused.

Tubing on the lake was a big hit.

Even Pumpkin got in on the fun. **To all concerned parties - they were going SUPER slow, I promise**

Loved the firework display. Pretty amazing for such a small town.

Pretty.

Pumpkin and his cousin (who are only about a month apart in age) were inseparable. Darling.