A Place for my Fourth of July Pictures to Live

Holidays + weekends + summertime are all individually amazing. So combined, when you roll the Fourth of July into a long weekend? YES. Perfect excuse for me to take an absurd amount of pictures. Please oblige me;)


Friday 7/3: Nate and I were both off work, and we ran errands in the morning, then had our friend Natalie's third birthday party that evening. I sort of tried to have the kids wear festive outfits and definitely forced a few pictures out of them.


Cecelia got new goggles and was cracking me up this day.


The birthday party was about 40 minutes away on a farm and the light there was AMAZING. So much fun, so many kids, and lots of mosquito bites as souvenirs!






Video of the girls being adorable.


Saturday 7/4: Parade and Fireworks day, yay!! The kids sort of slept in this day until around 7:30, since they were up late the night before until almost 9pm. The parade was at 9 am and fireworks at 9:30pm. SUPER long day but it was the best.

Matching outfits in FULL FORCE on July 4th, duh.



New favorite picture of all time, and can you get over Porter being vertical??? Obviously, not quite there yet on his own but just imagining a day when all three kids can stand up for pictures makes me giddy.


The local parade is always a highlight for me (Nate hates parades, but he tolerates it for the kids). We parked and then walked to the parade, and both big kids had their scooters along with the double BOB. It was HOT this day, over 80 degrees, but I really adore the parade pictures with all of the red, white, and blue. And children....so many children!!










Family picture---obviously a necessary evil. Holding all three kids between two parents highlights the fact that we are totally and completely outnumbered now. Ah, memories of last July 4 when I was gigantically pregnant and convinced I'd have Porter any day. (And then went another week, of course).


Okay, fine, a comparison of all of the July 4th celebrations as parents.


Nate had an afternoon beer, and the kids and I played with the selfie stick of course.

After naps----some sweet family time. Note that Porter likes me to talk into his open mouth during a kiss now. Love these guys so much!

Dinner that night was amazing (grilled chicken sandwiches, baked beans, salad, corn on the cob....and then Lois' amazing Patriotic Trifle. AND S'mores outside!)

Lois stayed back with Porter after he went to sleep at 7:15 that night, and then Nate and I took the big kids to the local fireworks. They didn't even start until 9:30 and this was Cecelia's first time, so we weren't sure how this would play out. She loved how 'sparkly' they were but was a little afraid of the loud boomers. Truman and Nate were in heaven and Cecelia admitted after that she also loved them. We didn't get home until after 10pm and the kids were awake until 10:30. CRAZY!!!


Video of the grande finale.

Sunday 7/5: We were all exhausted this day. We just did the pool in the backyard and had relaxing fun at home, and I believe the kids did sleep in a bit, too. Cecelia got a taste of my La Croix and loved it and her new swimming suits are my favorite.

Later that day after naps, me and my girl took a long scooter ride/walk together. She is getting so good at it!

Ah, I love you, July 4th weekend. SO MUCH.