Fun on the Fourth

I love the fourth of July!!! It is one of my favorite holidays. This year was a little different because it was our first year that we didn't go to Idaho Falls to celebrate it but we still had so much fun. Mom and Dad came up on Friday to spend it with us and that made it even more special. We got to go to Spokane with our really good friends Mike and Kami Bahnmiller, and their kids Joey and Emma . I'm going to tell you now that Kami's blog of the fourth is way better than mine so if you want to skip to hers and read it instead I totally understand and recommend it. Click http:/mkbahnmiller.blogspot.com/to see hers. On Saturday morning we woke up early to go to breakfast (a tradition in my family). We ate at Denny's and then headed on to Spokane. We took a different way than we normally take and it was such a pretty drive. There is a park in Spokane called River Front park that has fun rides so as soon as we got to Spokane we went to play. Emma really liked riding, but Jaxson wasn't sure if it was scary or fun. After rides we went to the hotel (we stayed in a really nice hotel (Kami has pictures) where the kids took a nap and Mike, Kami, and Josh went to the IMAX to see the new Transformers movie. After two hours in the hotel room I started to get bored, so my mom stayed with the sleeping little ones (thanks mom) while my Dad and I took Joey and my Emma to go on more rides. It was so fun to be with the "big kids" and my dad and not have to worry about where Jaxson was running off to. When they were done we went and met up with Kami, Mike and Josh, and took the kids swimming. It was so fun. We played tag (kind of hard to do while holding a two year old) and worked on jumps and kicks. It was a little chilly though. When we finally got dried off it was time for pizza and fire works. I have never sat so close to watch the fireworks. Jaxson was freaked out. I had to wrap him up in a "special protection" blanket before he would calm down. It was so fun though and the firework show was actually better than I thought it would be. On Sunday we went to sacrament meeting in Spokane and then headed home to spend a little more time with Mom and Dad. Dad told us to go take a nap and he spent some time with Emma watching a Strawberry Shortcake video and drawing with her. She loved the time with him. Thanks dad. My parents have a way of making my children feel so special and they had so much fun spending time with their grandparents. I really do have the best parents in the world and my kids adore them too. We spent the rest of Sunday just hanging out so when they left on Monday morning it was really hard to see them go. Needless to say I was depressed for the rest of the day and I didn't get much done around the house. We're back to normal now but we still miss them. Luckily we have a family reunion in August so we'll see them again soon. Thanks Kami and Mike and Dad and Mom for a great fourth of July weekend.

We had Dad and Mom ride in our car so they wouldn't have to spend more on gas so we shoved all three kids in the back seat. They actually did really well.

My beautiful mother working on hats for the kids.

This picture was so dark that I had to over expose it in order to be able to see it at all. Kami and I had fun but I'm not sure that Jaxson and little Emma did.
Mom took Emma while Mike to Joey on the Spider ride. They ended up stopping the ride in the middle of it so Joey and Emma could get off. I'm surprised they lasted as long as they did.
This ride is just like the Scrambler at Lagoon. I love it and Emma did too.

Bumper boats are so much fun. It's just too bad that they weren't big enough for Josh and I to ride in.

Jaxson riding the airplanes.

Radio Flyer Slide: River Front Park has the worlds largest Radio Flyer and it has a slide coming off it. My kids are such wimps so I had to put both of them on my laps before they would go down it. I hate this picture!! I look like a whale because of the way my kids are sitting on me. Oh the things we do for our kids.
Getting a two year old to stand still for a picture is like spitting into the wind and trying not to get hit. The two are almost impossible to avoid.
Emma and Jaxson had so much fun with their dad on thier first ferris wheel ride. It took FOREVER though and they were pretty hot by the end of the ride.