The Lee Family: Happy 4th of July!

For the 4th of July we enjoyed breakfast and just hung around the house relaxing while the kids played and made a fort in the basement. Either Sofia, Olivia or Lincoln would come upstairs periodically and as for something else they needed - a cardboard box, blankets, pillows, duct tape, etc. They spent a great deal of time building a fort that ended up being pretty cool in the end. It had a living room, kitchen and a bedroom. The kids loved it and spent most of the day either building it or playing in it. They decided that they would be sleeping in their new fort tonight.

We made quesadillas with the leftovers from the fajitas and sliced up apples for lunch and just enjoyed talking and catching up. CK decided to make chocolate chip cookies, so he got busy doing that while we all waited patiently for him to finish. Olivia showed up at the end to lick the spatula. The cookies were great, as usual, and just what we needed after lunch. Leah, who is very artistic, decided she wanted to make an American flag mosaic using only magazines. So, I searched for pictures that included the colors we needed, Aunt Cathy cut the colors into small squares, while Leah pasted the squares in the right spot. Soon, Sofia came upstairs and joined Leah in making the flag. It's great to watch them play and be together, even though the age difference is even more noticeable now that Leah is 14 years old! The girls worked together and the flag looked really great once they were done. They weren't sure how to do the stars, and Aunt Cathy printed out a few stars and cut them out so the girls could paste them onto the flag.

Once the flag was done, we took some pictures in front of the flag art that hangs in my Aunt's backyard. It makes a great backdrop for photos and my Aunt took a few photos of the four of us after I took pictures of the Lincoln, Sofia, Olivia and Leah. I wish Hays was around so he could be included but he was working at Chik-Fil-A until mid-afternoon. After taking a few photos, we got ready to head out and stake out an area to watch fireworks. We planned to go to a viewing area/field in Timnath, which is where Chris and Jackie live and is only 10-15 minutes from Aunt and Uncle's house. Chris and Jackie and their kids planned to meet us there and stay until just before the fireworks since Tatter gets very agitated with fireworks and thunderstorms. They wanted to be sure they were back to be with him before the fireworks started. They then planned to watch the fireworks from their front porch.

We arrived at the newly-laid sod field and parked. There were already a lot of people there and with several parking lots roped off it was clear that they expected significant more spectators. The field was right next to a reservoir and had open-sided tents with tables and chairs along one side and food trucks and craft beer tents. Behind the tents there was an entire area geared toward kids, including face painting, bungee-trampoline jumping, bounce houses and obstacle courses. It was great! Since we arrived so early, there weren't a lot of kids there yet so we headed for the face painting area first. The ladies who were doing the face painting were awesome! They did a great designs and were also very fast. Sofia decided on fireworks while Olivia decided on a flag. They were officially ready to celebrate the 4th of July.

After the face painting, we headed over to the kid area where the kids stood in line for awhile before getting a chance to go on the bungee trampoline. Thunder was still in the area, so they didn't open up the bungee trampoline for awhile, but once they did the kids were nearly at the front of the line. Sofia has gone on one before and loves it, while Olivia hadn't but couldn't wait to try it out. Soon, Sofia, Lincoln and Olivia were all on it at the same time and it was fun getting pictures of them having so much fun. Lincoln was on the other side, so I don't have any pictures of him from the front, but of him in the background of Olivia bouncing.

The kids jumped in the bounce house for a while and then we headed over to join Jason, April and Uncle Eric who had arrived with Kentucky Fried Chicken and all the sides. It was the perfect meal to enjoy sitting outside on a warm and sunny 4th of July! After eating, we headed over to the homemade popsicle stand and bought a few homemade popsicles while the girls wanted the "other" kind at the ice cream truck. We returned to our little area and the kids played while we waited for the fireworks to start. Unfortunately, Chris and Jackie had to leave a lot earlier than they planned because they received a phone call from someone telling them that Tatter had gotten out and had been picked up by the police and was at the pound! They were obviously upset and scared for their sweet dog. They headed out to straighten out the situation with Tatter and planned to watch the fireworks from their front porch. Sofia was really worried about Tatter.

We enjoyed the cooling weather and waited for it to get dark so the fireworks could start. CK and I joked that we wouldn't be enjoying such great weather in Texas for three months. Olivia accidentally wiped off most of her face paint flag and then got super upset that it was coming off. We used the hand wipes from the Kentucky Fried Chicken to wipe the rest of her face paint off and then we headed over with Lincoln to get a brand new one. We figured it was free and we still had time to kill before the fireworks started. The line was super long and CK and I stood in it for probably 45 minutes while Olivia rolled down the little grass hill near the line. She started a trend and a bunch of other girls joined her in rolling down the hill. Finally it was time for Olivia to pick out her face paint and she chose a band of flowers on her forehead. The artist did a great job and she was done and ready to play in no time!

Finally it was 9:30pm and the fireworks started. Patriotic music played while the fireworks started and it ended up being a good show. There was just enough breeze to push the fireworks smoke out of the area, so it ended up being really clear to see the fireworks. The girls took turns sitting on each of our laps. Sofia really loves sitting on our laps still which is difficult since she's now 85 lbs and cumbersome. It is fun to cuddle with her still though! It was a great fireworks show.

Once the show was over, we somehow found our car in the sea of vehicles thanks to CK's great memory. It ended up not being that difficult to get out of the parking lot and home. Once we made it home it was nearly 11am and the kids were convinced they were going to sleep in the basement fort they built. Sofia needed to go back to Jason and April's house to get Green Beup Beup and Olivia's Girafeey. I gave her my cell phone to use as a flashlight. Unfortunately she came back with the lovies and a cracked cell phone screen. She dropped it on the walk and it cracked, which is annoying since the area between the houses is all grass.

They got all their lovies in order, pjs on, teeth brush and headed down to the basement to bed down for the night. Lincoln was way ahead of the girls and was asleep by the time they made it down to the fort. Olivia didn't want to wash her face and lose her face paint, so she brushed her teeth and went to bed. I tucked the girls into bed and wished them a good night. Sofia actually came upstairs around 2am complaining that she hadn't been able to fall asleep at all. I put her in the guest bed in the room next to us and she feel asleep in no time.

The two buddies before breakfast