4th of July weekend

Of course we had to go to the lake one day during the 4th of July weekend! It was definitely the busiest we had seen with some hooligans at the ramp and driving about, but we headed to our cove and had a great time! Brent configured the tarp so we could get a little more shade on the boat too! 

The boys surprisingly are pretty good about taking turns with the hose - probably because Brock still has to help Kade push the button down so he's okay with letting Kade "hold it".

And then Kade relinquishes control back to Brock....

After sitting at the boat ramp parking lot for 6+ hours, the Tundra is hot! Apparently Kade felt the need to cool down a little more.

On Monday we headed to the gym for Brock's swim class.... only to find out that they canceled all swim classes that week for the holiday. A little head's up next time?? All good - Kade napped on the bench and we still had fun in the outdoor pool after he woke up!

Brock waiting "patiently" for us all to come in the pool!

More Duplo-tower building - both of them are extreme builders! Towers, rocket ships (daddy & baby ones), and airplanes are the structures of choice.

On Tuesday morning, 4th of July, we headed down for Apex's "Old Fashioned Fourth." The city closes down Salem Street for cars to make way for vendors, inflatables, and carnival games. We got there early, but not early enough - the lines were ridiculous for the inflatables (even more so in 85 degree temperatures with 85% humidity), so Brock was only able to do the one.

Kade LOVES bubbles, but not bubbles in this heat.

My poor family was even grumpy standing in the shade of the fire house!

Got our picture in the old fire truck and then we headed back up the street to our vehicle.

The town has a cute event for the kids - decorate your bike, scooter, wagon, etc and all the kids parade down the street. However, the parade starts at noon, which I think is a horrible time with the heat. We may never see that parade!

After we all cooled off at home and had steak for dinner, Brent found his stowaway hanging out at the gate. One night, about 3 weeks prior, Brent rescued a turtle in the middle of the road. Instead of returning it to the side of the road where it could crawl the wrong way and get in trouble again, he decided to bring it home and let it go in our neighborhood.

 He explained he had the kids with him, therefore he placed the turtle right by our deck in the backyard. After bringing the kids in the house, he returned to the backyard to fetch the turtle, however it was GONE. We searched all over that night and then next day - under the deck, under the bushes, under the shed, in the pine straw.... could NOT find that turtle! It was definitely too big to fit under the fence, so where did it go??

Apparently it had enough of our family and our dogs and wanted out! The boys loved watching his little head pop out of its shell. Brent gently picked him up and we took him down by our neighborhood pool to let him go in the woods.

Good karma!

 We returned just in time to comfort our dogs from the loud fireworks!

Kade is too fast for my camera - but gave each of them kisses!

Diesel handled this year's fireworks slightly better than in Washington. He still started the night with a half a Xanex. I felt bad that I didn't take a picture of him hanging out in the playroom closet because I have loads of pictures from previous 4th of Julys with him in very small spaces!

After setting off a few little fireworks, we were treated to some big ones right in our very own neighborhood! The joys of living outside city limits. ;) Kade was already asleep in bed and Brock got to stay up and watch them from our street - he actually loved the noise and the light display - I was excited for him!

The following morning we met Grandma at Regal Cinemas for Kade's first "big boy" movie - Rio 2! We took advantage of the $1 tickets and I think that was the best way to go - Kade lasted 50 minutes and he was done sitting.

All in all, a very eventful 4th of July holiday!