Kayley's Story: 4th of July

Busy 4th of July weekend! Mom and Dad arrived Thursday evening. The kids were happy to see Grandma and Grandpa and excited for all the spoiling that results from their visits. I was happy to see them and excited for the break from baths and bedtime routines for me that results when Grandma is in town. :-) Andy came home Friday night and Matt arrived on Sunday.

On Saturday, we headed over to Lake Camelot to meet up with Nate, Jennie, Brenna, Cooper, Ruben and Isaac for fireworks. The homeowner's association puts on a fireworks display at the lake every year. The kids had a lot of fun playing on the beach and in the water when we got there around 7pm. I wish I would have brought their swim stuff, but didn't even think about it at that time of day. Kayley took no time at all to get her pretty dress soaking wet and full of sand. (Yeah, a dress may not have been the best idea, but she really wanted to wear it!) Then they played on they playground equipment with about 50 other kids. Drew is very cautious whenever he is put into a new situation, but Kayley jumps in head first. She was all over that playground and barely looked back to see where we were. The fireworks at Lake Camelot were really good. We were really impressed considering it was an HOA putting them on. I think Nate and Jennie's dues will be going up to cover the cost!

Eating ice to cool down before the
fireworks at Lake Camelot

The kids spent most of Sunday in their new pool. They love their new little pool. At least they will until they get older and realize they had a real pool in Phoenix!

Here are a few videos of the kids in the pool. It might be one of those things where you had to be there to fully appreciate it, but I can't watch the video of Kayley without laughing out loud. She tries so hard!

We ended up staying around our house Sunday evening. We grilled and then let off some fireworks and sparklers. Remember what I said last post about spilled milk in our future? I know my kid too well. He was more than happy to offer to help clean up his mess.

Kayley showing Uncle Matt exactly
what she thinks of him! LOL! Actually, she
is showing him her injury from the car door
incident earlier in the week.

Testing out the new pool

Look at that form! :-)

Andy testing out Drew's left handed clubs

More spilled milk...

Kayley loves bubbles!

Kayley and her "fireworks"

All week I kept hearing about how we were going to have the largest fireworks in Illinios this year (Chicago cancelled its show I think). I would smile and think, big deal. This is Peoria. They can't be that good. Oh my gosh, they were the best we have ever seen!! Seriously. And we saw some pretty good ones in Phoenix! We drove down to the riverfront around 7:15pm on Monday night. About 5 minutes from downtown I realized we forgot the chairs and the blankets. Oops. So, Andy and Dad dropped Matt, Mom, Drew, Kayley and I off and they headed back to the house.
We found a good spot and had to just stand their until Andy and Dad got back. That wasn't so fun. Kayley didn't last too long. Before they even got back she said, "I want ice cream and then I want to go home." She didn't get ice cream and she didn't get to go home, but Grandpa brought her back a snack from the house so she was content for awhile! Kayley and Drew eventually resorted to dancing to kill time before the fireworks: