Our 4th of July celebration

This weekend was so much fun. We left Friday at about 1:30 to go to Evanston Wyoming. I'm glad it was a cooler day because our vehicle has no AC at the moment because it is broken. So we drove the whole way with the windows rolled down. We were yelling back and forth at each other, and I got a kink in my neck from turning it towards the back to talk to my Mom and my brother Quinn. So we made good time! When we got to my Brother Chris' house the kids immediately ran for the toys, the adults chatted for a little bit and munched on some munchies. Then the Men decided that they were ready to go and buy fireworks. Matt said that he was going to spend $150 on his share. I was like " oh no your not!" That is a lot of fireworks, and a lot of money to spend on something that is going to be gone like a snap! I followed him trying to decide how to say no nicely, without sounding like a control freak. So I said Matt do you want to be able to buy a nice ceiling fan for the house to help save money. He was like yeah, then I said please don't spend that much. How much do you have in your wallet? He said about $50. I said that is perfect, don't spend more than that. Well it turns out that they got their purchase of fireworks for 50% off because of Matt's military I.D. and spent only $70 total . So Matt had cash left over in his wallet. I love good deals like that, especially on something that doesn't last. When the guys got back the kids changed into there swimming suits and played with squirt guns, and water balloons, and jumped on the tramp with the sprinkler underneath it. They had a blast. My sweet Sister in law Sarah is way crafty and had put together a craft for the kids to make. This is what the kids made: Madisynn was posing so perfectly! I love it! I also love the tattoo on her cheek. I swear it takes up her whole sweet little face! McKenzie is sporting her cute hat and little tattoo too!:Trouble is lurking ahead! Oh oh... =) :Gabe, McKenzie, Madisynn, & McKell :Do you remember the fun parachute game that we played in elementary school for P. E. sometimes? If you didn't get the chance to do this growing up you totally missed out! I love the parachute game. Last year we played it with my whole side of the family in Evanston, so this year when Sarah said she had reserved it again, I was super happy! We had a blast with it again this year, as you can tell with Madisynn! Next we fired up the grill and had a nice little Bar-B- Q and more time to visit. My favorite! Then we headed on over to where we were going to lite fireworks. This was at about 8 or 8:30. We found the perfect spot that wasn't crowded with people already lighting off their own fireworks.

Here are some more fabulous pictures of our evening:

It was a beautiful sunset! I was grateful to have been there to experience it!

See a HAPPY Me:

Here is the loot we all bought! That Bug Zapper was $25 by itself, but it was totally worth it! It was the best of our fireworks that we bought of the night, and it lasted forever!:

Here is my brother Quinn with the loot: The 3 Pyros! Quinn, Matt, and my older brother Chris:

McKenzie sporting her patriotic shirt:

Madisynn sporting her patriotic shirt:

My Mom and the grand daughters. Isn't there just something about a Grandma's lap??? So cute!:

My Crafty Sister in law Sarah and her little boy Trace! She is exhausted by this point, poor thing! Trace loved the fireworks! He's only 2 months, but wow he is so alert. He barely even cried. =)

This little girl didn't want to get off of her Grandma's lap because she was scared of the fireworks, that she might get hurt!:

This little guy was the one who finally got up the guts to do sparklers first and really enjoy himself. Eventually McKell, and McKenzie followed him. Madisynn didn't want anything to do with them. She would rather play with the light up necklaces, and bracelets!:

It was such a fun day! I'm so glad we were able to go! I thought that we had made it free and clear of all the mosquito's though. I was wrong when I woke up early in the morning scratching. Madisynn got bit twice, and the bites look ginormous on her little arm. All day today she kept saying my owe, and would want me to scratch her arm for her. Poor thing. =(

Anyways it was nonstop action from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. The city fireworks were OK compared to all of the other fireworks going off around us. =)

Here is a video that I recorded of how crazy it gets in Evanston. I'm sorry it's not the greatest. I really need a better camera.:

So there you have it folks! Our fun 4th of July celebration. I all hope you had a great day too! I'm out of here. =)

********4th of July********

I love the 4th of July! I love to be Patriotic. You know I never really took note of how the Star Spangled came to be, until last year when I received an email from my mom. Oh it was such a great email, I wish I could attach it on here somehow. It's too long to be able to upload on here. Anyways the email was wonderful, and it made me even more grateful for our country and our freedom.

Here is just a little history of how the star spangled banner came to be:

During the War of 1812, Dr. William Beanes, a close friend of Key's was taken prisoner by the British. Since Key was a well-known lawyer, he was asked to assist in efforts to get Dr. Beanes released. Knowing that the British were in the Chesapeake Bay, Key left for Baltimore. There Key met with Colonel John Skinner, a government agent who arranged for prisoner exchanges. Together, they set out on a small boat to meet the Royal Navy
On board the British flagship, the officers were very kind to Key and Skinner. They agreed to release Dr. Beanes. However, the three men were not permitted to return to Baltimore until after the bombardment of Fort McHenry. The three Americans were placed aboard the American ship and waited behind the British fleet. From a distance of approximately eight miles, Key and his friends watched the British bombard Fort McHenry.
After 25 hours of continuous bombing, the British decided to leave since they were unable to destroy the fort as they had hoped. Realizing that the British had ceased the attack, Key looked toward the fort to see if the flag was still there. To his relief, the flag was still flying! Quickly, he wrote down the words to a poem which was soon handed out as a handbill under the title "Defence of Fort McHenry." It was renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner" by an adoring public. It became a popular patriotic song. It was not until 1931, however, that it became our national anthem.
After the war, Francis Scott Key continued to live a very religious life. He was well-liked by his friends and was active in society. On January 11, 1843, while visiting his daughter in Baltimore, Key died of pleurisy. To honor the author of "The Star-Spangled Banner," there are monuments at: Fort McHenry; on Eutaw Street in Baltimore; at Mt. Olivet Cemetery in Frederick, Maryland; and at the Presidio in San Francisco, California.

Also here is a link you should check out it's pretty neat:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2487638612433437293&q=Veterans

I'm so grateful for the military. From watching this video it shouldn't matter which branch you belong too. The point is you're serving your country. I'm so grateful to those who protect our country and our freedom. Thank you Thank you, my prayers are always with you and your family's. I'm also grateful that Matt had the opportunity to serve our country as well. It was a good learning experience for the both of us. I wish you all a happy 4th of July, I hope you all have a great day! Enjoy the fireworks!!! I know we will.... Evanston WY here we come! =)

Zoo Fun!!!

So today was Military appreciation day at the Hoagle Zoo. All Military and there families get in for free. A pretty sweet deal if you ask me!! It was well worth it. We had a blast . We spent about 3 hrs. there in almost 100 degree weather., but it was well worth it. We were ready to get home in the end!

This was our first stop:

This rare white alligator looked so fake. He was sleeping of course!Our next stop was the elephants. I love elephants! I have a funny story to tell about my Dad and the elephant at the Hoagle Zoo. So a long time ago, I can't remember how many years it's been but we had gone for a family activity. Well we were looking at the elephants, and the next thing we know we see my Dad trying to touch the elephant with his hat. Well wouldn't you know it the Elephant grabs my Dad's hat with it's trunk and starts to eat it. The elephant tried to swallow, but it started to choke on it! By this time my Dad is walking away from the scene, and the rest of us are kind of walking away from him. It's like we don't know this Man, how embarrassing! We thought that we were going to read about it the next day in the paper: Elephant chokes to death on some man's bright fluorescent pink hat. Yes he liked bright colors! I wouldn't call it embarrassing anymore. My Dad had lot's of fun, he was very adventurous, and I mean how many times do you get to see and elephant eat a hat? Thanks Dad for the good memory!

So here are some pictures of the Elephants that we saw:

Lucky for you, you missed the elephant take a bathroom break! Very interesting for all the kids to see. They were all grossed out! He is a cute elephant though! I took this picture right before his little break, and afterwards he started to sway back and forth. He really was cute!

Matt and the girls and the elephants.

The elephant on the right is pregnant. She is due sometime next year. Isn't that so amazing???

This little guy looked so board. He was just sitting there tapping his arm. It was so cute, and funny! Poor thing, boredom is no fun.

Zebras aren't they so beautiful???

Matt and the girls with the beautiful zebras behind them. So cute! Oh McKenzie said the Zebra was her favorite animal at the zoo.

I'm so glad I'm not a penquin!

From a distance I thought this little guy was dead, but when I got up closer I realized that he was just relaxing in the sun and water

This is a sloth. Couldn't tell could you? =)

And wait for it:

Benicula!!!!! The Vampire Rabbit!!!!

Now on to my favorite part of the zoo. The gorillas. I love gorillas!

Here was a couple of them outside in the trees:

We thought it would be fun to do this little activity:

After this little activity we went inside the gorilla building. This is what was waiting for us:

This is Eli. He is just so darn CUTE!!

I had to get a video of him. He was being difficult, but it was worth it for me, so I could get a good picture of his face to last forever!

So here he is:

After we saw the gorillas and Eli, we made our way towards the snakes, spiders, reptiles building. I didn't take any pictures of them, because well the snakes and spiders give me the heebie jeebies! McKenzie was totally into them! She did say they were yucky! Whatever that means. She wasn't scared of them one bit! Anyways moving along to end the day at the zoo we went on a little train ride to see more animals. When I say little it was little. Like 2-3 minutes long. It cost $4 to go on it. It was lame! The girls liked it though. They thought it was cool to ride a train. Matt said the train ride at Lagoon was better than this. I would have to agree with him. At least on that one you got to see some decent big animals, and not just dinky pigeons! So here are some pictures of the train ride of us:

And our big finish for the day was the Merry go round which the girls absolutely loved! McKenzie started to cry when Matt took her off of her Tiger. Poor thing. Here are pictures of the Merry go round:

They were beat and ready to go home! Especially Madisynn, who fell asleep as soon as the car started. It was fun to be able to see the zoo again. I would love to go again when we had more time so the girls could do discovery land. Well I guess it's their fault in a way because they chose the train ride, and merry go round over playing in discovery land! Oh well they still had fun no matter what. Now I finally get to post this yea. I'm going crazy! =)