4th of July 2016

I think I said this last year, but it was totally reinforced this year. The 4th of July is my favorite holiday. No crazy expectations, no gifts, lots of outside time, lots of family time, and we get to wear red, white, and blue. This year was just so nice. We had come off a pretty busy June so we were looking forward to some time just the 4 of us and we got in lots of it. :) There were also so many special moments and firsts over the 4th!

1) Grilling- Friday, Zach found some smoked ribs at a local butcher shop and they are supposed to be world famous. OMG, the best, BEST ribs I've ever had. Then Saturday, he killed it again and made GINORMOUS breakfast burgers- huge burger, cheese, fried onions, smoked pork loin, fried egg, and peanut butter on the bun. 2,000 calories? maybe, but oh so good.

2) S'Mores- We had a bonfire in our backyard and made s'mores both nights! Abe had lots of extra marshmallows, that little stinker!

3) Jett- For the FIRST time in FIVE years, Jett got to hang out with us in the backyard without his leash. Whoa. Big step for the big guy and big step for us. He wasn't going to run anywhere when he knew we had marshmallows.

4) Smoothies- We finally got a little blender to make some smoothies. Abe helped me make his first smoothie- peaches, pineapple, strawberries, spinach, honey and almond milk. He had a drink and asked me to add chocolate. Ha! So I added a bit of Qwik powder and he did drink some of it! I made myself a smoothie everyday for the rest of the weekend.


5) Swimming- We've been trying so hard to get Abe used to water and he's been very scared this year. On top of that, every time we are going to go we get crazy weather and have to cancel. Saturday we set off to find a splash pad with a zero entry pool, but it was closed! So we found a small wading pool next to a playground. Abe got in, immediately said "I'm done now." and wanted to leave. We got him playing a game and before we knew it- he was swimming! He was enjoying it! He was splashing, jumping, and paddling around a bit. We were so happy and proud.

The only crappy picture I took of Abe...can you spot him?

Then on Sunday, Zach and I jumped off the pontoon into 16 feet of water to swim for a bit. Abe got so panicked thinking we had fallen off the boat but then he wanted to join us. He had his life jacket on and a noodle so he climbed down the ladder and got in, too! He swam for quite awhile, it was really just the best thing. I don't think he realized that his life jacket was keeping him buoyant, he was just having fun in the water. He swam with his Auntie Jade and Emmy, too!

Happy Swimmers!

Little Mara got to wear her swimmy suit, too! She also dipped her feet in the wading pool. :)

I spy a baby belly button

6) Sleep- Mara had been waking up every 45 minutes, it was terrible. So Friday and Saturday night Zach did Daddy Boot Camp on her. He fed her a bottle, rocked her till she was out cold, then swaddled her up extra tight with a sleep sack and a blanket. It worked! I got some much needed sleep all three nights. It's amazing what sleep can do for you.

7) Family Fun- Sunday we had a nice boat ride and both kids got to get smothered with love and attention from Grammy, Grandpa, and Aunties. So nice to be out on the Minnesota water!

Two happy kiddos!

8) Carnival Fun- We wanted to keep the actual 4th pretty low key. We watched a few movies in the morning and then decided to meet Brian and Mel at the town "carnival." We were expecting a few rides but it turns out they only had games for the kids, a bouncy slide, and some sno-cones! It turned out to be a really nice afternoon, though, and we were able to go home for more movies. 

Abe chose lime, I chose pina colada!

Me and my little bean all dressed for the 4th!