4th of July

This year the holiday which consists of being unbearably hot, eating watermelon, and blowing things up included the following:

We went to the big parade and met my family there. My mom got in a fight with some incredibly rude, egocentric people, but other than that we had a good time.

Carrie brought cookies and doughnuts for breakfast:

Cute kids:
Carrie and her current beau Jason:

Autumn kissing Eliza to death:
The kids loved the front row seats:

An odd (patriotic?) tribute to Star Wars:


Swim time at Grandma's:

(I forgot a swimsuit so my mom put Autumn in one that's a bit ill-fitting.)

These pictures remind me of those fish in koi ponds when you throw in food and there's a feeding frenzy, full of splashing and thrashing.

Playing outside:
Chasing roosters:
Jared built one of those test your strength hit the bell games they have at carnivals. The kids loved playing with it and arguing over who was the toughest. Here they are waiting in line and taking turns whacking the thing:

Playing bocci ball:

Trampoline:
Sparklers:

Basketball:

(a one-legged man)

And then we went home. It was a very good day.