Fourth of July weekend

 {It's always fun when the 4th falls on a Friday or Saturday because we get to celebrate for the entire weekend and don't have to worry about work schedules.  This year it fell on Saturday.  Everyone knows that this is a much anticipated holiday for all of us.}

The 4th looked a little different this year, like everything else.  Dang coronavirus.  The first thing that was different was that Stockton had a baseball tournament over the 3rd and 4th.  I was pretty upset about this.  We had originally signed up for it because it was going be held the weekend before the 4th.  Justin kept watching for a schedule to be posted and it just never got posted.  He finally called to see when it was going to be posted because we were just a couple of days away from it starting and they told him that it had been changed to July 3rd and 4th.  So that was upsetting.  Justin felt like, as the coach, he really needed to be there and Stockton needed to be there or they would have been short players.  So he was bummed and I was bummed but we tried to go forward with a good attitude.  The girls and I were able to go down and watch the games on the 3rd.  My parents met us there so they could watch and then we drove home to Plain City with them while Justin and Stockton went home and prepared for the two games the following day, on the 4th.

Stockton is running bases-currently on 3rd base here-always a good at bat for him if he can get all the way to 3rd

We got to Plain City in the afternoon-enough time for the kids to swim and run around "Moyes street" which is a very apt name since my parents, Ali, and Bryce all live on the same street.  It is hard to describe how idyllic it is and how relaxed and comfortable it is for them to run around and "be free."  I am always reminded when we are in Plain City surrounded by cousins and grandparents and aunts and uncles how lucky my kids are and what magical childhoods they have. (They have it at home too, I just feel so blessed that they have such a huge support network.)  Some of them watched "Onward" on Jeff and Ali's lawn that night while Jeff took the older group on a "midnight" hike to see the full moon.  It was more like 9:30-10.

Brynn, Chloe, Ivy

Gavin, Abby, Molly, Tessa, Ben, Grant

We weren't able to do all the Plain City celebrations the following morning (parade, games at the park, etc.) but we still had an awesome celebration.  My mom tried to make up for what the kids were missing and they had just as much fun as they normally would.  We didn't do the bike parade this year but went down to Warren to see the Walker's ride their horses in the Warren parade (which probably had less than 100 people, parade participants and spectators combined). The kids collected some candy.

our family picture is missing two

Ivy and Brynn watching Tessa and Harper

Josie, Ivy, Lucy

Molly and Harper

Chloe, Abby, Molly

Harper and Ivy

Ali had all the stuff for face painting so we did that when we got back.  This is definitely the way to do it since the line at the park is usually forever long.  My mom had prizes, tickets, and had set up a whole carnival in her back yard to replace the games that the kids usually do at the park.

Ivy and Ali

Molly and Lucy

Brynn and Abby

Ali was a good sport and let Ivy paint her face

Brynn trying to dunk Grace

We spent the hot afternoon in the perfect place: the pool.  We pulled out my mom's cotton candy machine and the Broadbent's brought over their snow cone maker.  My aunt Holly came and brought my cousin's wife, Marcee, with her four kids who were visiting from Texas.

Ezra and Louisa Young, Brynn, Molly, Ben, Bryce, Jeff, Gavin, Tessa, Abby, Grace, Harper, Grant, Ivy

Brynn and Harper

 

 After dinner, we gathered on Jeff and Ali's lawn for poppers and sparklers and ended the night with fireworks.  When I was little, they lit the fireworks off at Lee Olsen park and our backyard was a perfect place to see them.  When Fremont was built, they started lighting them off there so we had to drive to see them-but last year, they put them back at Lee Olsen so we set up in the backyard and had the perfect seats for the show.  Ivy's excitement was the best.  My boys finally showed up after fireworks.

Josie, Ivy, Lucy

Grace, Abby, Tessa, Molly

getting safety instructions from Jeff

Ivy and Grace

Tessa, Molly, Gavin

Lucy and Ivy

Brynn, Harper, Grant

Grant and Stockton

Since Stockton had missed the 4th we told him we would stay the weekend so he could play with cousins and swim Monday morning.  It worked out well that it was the weekend and that Justin was on his work-at-home week so we could do that for him.  We had dinner as a family on Sunday afternoon and then Bryce took us on a little nature walk/hike that afternoon.  I wish I could remember what this trail was called but it has probably been one of my favorite hikes I've ever been on.  It was so lush and green, had plenty of shade, and followed along a river.  It was beautiful!  I think it ended up being about 4 miles.  The drive to get to the trailhead was super windy-it took Molly a while to get her bearings and not feel so nauseous.  She wasn't the only one feeling that way so we decided that, at the halfway point, the dads would do the loop back to get the cars and the moms and kids would take the fork that led to a different pick-up point.  That way we were able to avoid the windy part on the way home.  It was such a great afternoon-one of my favorites of the whole summer, and that's saying a lot because we had so many good days.  We ended back at Grandma and Grandpa's where the little girls got to wrestle with their favorite big cousin, Ben.

Tessa, Molly, Grandpa

Grace, Brynn, Harper, Stockton, Grant

Brynn, Grace, Harper, Abby, Ivy

me, Ivy, Brynn, Molly, Justin, Stockton, Grandpa, Seth, Grant, Grandma, Ben, Grace, Bryce, Abby, Gavin, Spencer, Erin, Lucy, Erin, Josie, Tessa, Ali, Harper, Jeff (just missing Chloe and Christopher)

Lucy and Ivy

Molly, Abby, Tessa

Josie, Lucy, Ivy, Ben

We let the kids swim Monday morning, as promised.  We got out the slack line and let the kids try that out for a while before getting them out and heading home.  Our weekend had been pretty awesome.