4th of July

We had about a week long 4th of July this year. It was so much fun! We started celebrating in the mountains with my family on July 1st. My parents' community hosts an annual 4th of July Bar-B-Q which was so much fun. Jacey-Kate, Luke and Lily Anne got to walk in the parade and then chow down on one of the best bar-b-q pork sandwiches I've had.

Chad, Sarah Kate, Caroline and Grey came down to stay with us the 3rd-5th. Jacey-Kate's finally at an age where she can enjoy playing with them, and they are SO good with her. We had a blast as we always do. The 4th was full of excitement- we decorated the Williams' VW truck and then rode our golf cart in the parade, went to the pool, the guys drove to AL to buy fireworks and then made pizzas at the Olsens while waiting to shoot off fireworks. Unfortunately, it rained! The fireworks got moved to Wednesday night after the ice cream social.

My birthday flew by on Wednesday, but was one of the best yet. Russ and I took Jacey-Kate to the Children's Museum downtown. She of course ran wild and loved every minute of it. I think her favorite part was painting on the wall. We had lunch at one of my favorite places- Taqueria del Sol, then headed home. The Ice Cream Social started around 7:30- we had tons of ice cream and several amazing homemade varieties. Jacey-Kate was in hog heaven as you'll see in the pictures below; I think this was the longest she has sat still in her 2 years of life. The fireworks were a hit. Russ, Chad and Patrick did an amazing job setting them up and the show was the BEST I've seen. Jacey-Kate stayed up for the fireworks. She was a little scared at first and then she loved them and kept saying, "more sparkles, more sparkles". She sat with her Aunt Meg most of the show, she didn't want her mommy. Afterwards, we went back to our house and had Gigi's Cupcakes! OMG- they were yummy!

We ended our 4th of July week with Jacey-Kate's birthday and party. She had Sublime Happy Birthday donuts, a trip to get her big girl bed and bedding in Atlanta and then fun with Lulu and Dee that evening. Her Elmo birthday party was a hit! We had 10 children over for a couple of hours and we painted, played, and ate a lot! The kids were precious and were so well behaved. Thanks to my parents, Aunt Meg, Bonnie and Melea for helping with her party. Enjoy the pics from our fabulous 4th of July week!!