Fourth of July 2009!

Wilde Family

Fourth of July

2009

What a great Fourth of July!  Despite a pesky head-cold (for me) we managed to have, as usual, too much fun and definitely too much food. ;)  Aunt Jayne, Uncle Seth, and Cousin Oliver drove up for the weekend which was great since we hadn't seen Uncle Seth in quite a while!  (He had been gone for a long training exercise in Ohio during Jayne's previous visits.)  For the Fourth we spent some time at the pool and then we all (per tradition) celebrated at the Johnston's house where Jonathan and Nellie BBQ'd burgers and hotdogs and everyone else brought a side to share.  Julie made some fan-flippin-tastic baked beans, potato salad, and homemade vanilla ice-cream.  YUM.  Jayne and Seth assembled fruit skewers made with fresh cantaloupe, honey-dew, mango, pineapple, and strawberries - amazing!  And the Wilde's contributed homemade baked macaroni and cheese and festive Fourth of July cupcakes (I couldn't resist when I found limited-edition red, white, and blue star-shaped marshmallows.)  I wish I had taken pictures!  Trust me - it was all phenomenal. :)

Following the food we set up our camping chairs in the cul-de-sac and watched the kids dance with excitement as the Daddies lit the fireworks.  Sadly, fireworks that shoot up and explode (a.k.a. the good ones ;) are not sold in NC so all we had were really just variations of the same 'fountain' style firework, but the kids LOVED them!  

Pool Bunny!  Isn't she beautiful?! :)

Norah loves going to the pool.  Obviously. :) 

Seriously - it should be a crime to be this adorable! :)

Daddy is by far the most requested parent in the pool.  Why?  Because he can launch the boys twice as high as Mommy can.  :)

If you click to enlarge this picture you can see how scratched up Eddison's face is.  Where did they come from?  I don't know.  I suspect our current house-guest (a ferret named Annie) had something to do with a couple of the injuries, but if Eddie was holding her than I can only assume the scratches were in self-defense.  He loves animals.  Sometimes just a little too much. :)

My boys in the pool.  Jack decided to take a breather in Norah's floatie and Justin discovered he could launch Jack (floatie and all) pretty high by swimming under him and pushing up.  I wish I had a picture of how high Justin was throwing him!

Mommy and her boys.

Another picture you need to enlarge to see the details.  Notice Eddie's swim diaper and shorts? :)  Both were way too big and he kept showing crack whenever I brought him up out of the water after he'd jumped in.  I don't care what anyone else says, little bare-bottoms are one of the cutest things ever. :)   

Aunt Jayne with Oliver and Mommy and the boys.  Yes - we both have an affinity for over sized sunglasses and blue halter-style swimming suits. :)  (And, of course, blond-haired and blue-eyed boys.)  Now if only we could get our older sister, Aunt Julia, out here to complete the picture! :(  Miss you!

Eleanor's first Fourth of July!  I found this adorable red, white, and blue dress a few months ago and HAD to buy it for her first Independence Day.  SO cute!

For fun Justin asked Seth to take a few pictures of just Justin and me.  It felt like we were having our engagement pictures taken all over again!  LOL...  We could pass for soon-to-be newly-weds, right? :)

My favorite little fire-crackers!  

Eddison's FIRST sparkler! 

Jackson enjoyed the sparklers for a few minutes, but the memory of his recent burn (to be blogged about soon!) on our camping trip made him extra cautious and a little nervous.

Wow.  This was only our third year celebrating the Fourth in the Johnston's cul-de-sac and we're already taking up 1/4 of it!  LOL!  (And two families were missing - the Gammon's and the Scienski's.  With them we would have easily covered taken up 1/2 of the cul-de-sac.)  It's amazing how our numbers are exponentially multiplying so quickly!  LOL! 

 

Like last year, Jackson was MESMERIZED by the fireworks!  He could sit and watch them for hours if at all possible... and then express the same enthusiasm after each one was finished.  I can't wait until he's a little older and we can take him uptown for a BIG firework show! :)

Eddie was Justin's little helper.  He really loved the fireworks, too.  Especially helping Jackson pick out the next one and then pointing to them while they were going off and yelling, "Batman!"  (Who knows?!  LOL!)

Hold your breath....wait for it... TA DA!  This was our 'Grand Finale' firework.  Pretty sweet, eh? :)  (Now you can see why we would love to see how the boys would react to REAL fireworks!)

When the last of the fireworks had been lit and we had enjoyed the homemade ice-cream we loaded up the kids and drove home.  Our cul-de-sac neighbors were still in the midst of setting off their fireworks (and clearly they had driven to SC to buy some 'good ones' :) so Justin set up the boys' chairs and sat outside with them for a little while longer while I put Norah to bed.  

What a wonderful day.  We are so grateful for this nation in which we live and for those who have and are serving our country to help maintain the freedoms we enjoy.  God Bless America!