We had a super fun fourth of July this year!
Auntie Eva made these adorable, patriotic tee shirts for the kids with some fabric paint and her creativity.
Ella and I started off the day with a much needed pedicure and chose the most patriotic color I had in my box of polish, fiery red.
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| Ella sat admiring her painted toes for quite some time |
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| Jeff and I dressed in our red, white, and blue |
My little sweethearts let me take a couple photos of them. I love Ella's over the top cheesy smile and Nicholas' genuine grin (complete with giggles) while snuggling with his beloved sister.
In the late afternoon our family went over to Jami and Kris' house to celebrate. Ella and her cousin, Zoie, wore their matching American flag tees complete with hand prints.
Some of the ladies that attended posed for a group photo in our patriotic colors. I guess I didn't get the memo about wearing sunglasses, I was the only one without 'em and boy was that sun bright!
Jami and Kris' friend, Khan, prepared a crayfish feast for everyone, complete with a spicy habanero sauce, corn on the cob, red potatoes, and bread. Mmmmm, it was delicious!!
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| Kris and his dad, Roy, posed for a photo in their bibs before digging into the seafood feast |
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| It looks scrumptious, right?! |
Khan gave everyone a quick lesson about how to peel and eat the crayfish.
You only get a tiny bite of meat with each crayfish, but it's totally worth it!
Later Jeff played a Frisbee game with some of the guys, and Dylan was his partner.
Nicholas was outside for much of the early evening enjoying the festivities, but as more and more people arrived, our little introvert asked to go inside where it was quieter and watch a movie. He relaxed in his flag tee and his cousin, Alex, and another little boy, Kai, joined him.
Kris and Jami gave out prizes for the most patriotic outfits. Their friend Gabe won for the adults and all of the kids got gifts too: bubbles, water guns, and mustaches (as modeled by Nicholas below).
I love my sister-in-laws so much!
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| Me and Eva |
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| Me and Jami (the hostess with the most-est) |
This little cutie is just over a year old and her fiery red hair and bright blue eyes are so gorgeous!
Kris' nephew, Owen, showed me his firework popper.
Ella attacked every person in sight with her (pink!) water gun. And it looks like she got fired upon as well.
Eva made yummy tequila and vodka jello shots, which were completely Pinterest worthy.
When it started to get dark, everyone brought out the fireworks they purchased. Ella really loved the sparklers...
Jeff started a fire and moved our suburban close to it so Nicholas could lie comfortably in the back on his blankets and watch the show. I cuddled up next to him and we enjoyed watching the lovely, colorful explosions in the sky.
This was the first year that Nicholas really enjoyed the show, in the years past the sound bothered him too much, but this year he thought they were great!
It was a perfect Independence Day celebration with friends and family!
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