4th of July.....

We went to Jeff & Melinda's house to celebrate the 4th of July this year - we actually celebrated on the 3rd - they had us and a few other families over for swimming, badminton (Jeff & Jeremy were really excited about this), bbq and fireworks.  We had SO much fun.  We got there around 3 and the twins got right in the pool - they got out for about 20 minutes to eat dinner and then got back in until it was time for fireworks.  I think we figured they spent at least 5 hours swimming.  It is so amazing to me to see how much better they swim this year compared to last year .  They have gotten to the point where they are figuring out how to do handstands in the water, somersaults, etc.  And Gracie loves going out in the deepend and swimming to the bottom to collect and rings, etc.  We bought Livvy some "high-end" floaties and this kid looooooves them - she has learned how to kick her legs with the floaties on and she'll just swim from one spot to another - cracks us right up! 

Anyway, we had a GREAT time with Jeff and Melinda - we always do.  I feel so blessed to finally be living close to family.  The fireworks were fun - Whitney and Livvy liked to do the sparklers (Gracie was having nothing to do with 'em) and all 3 girls loved the pops.  Marcus and Jeff put on a great fireworks spectacular and we headed home happy and exhausted.

 

 

 

 

DISNEYLAND

We went to Disneyland in May with my side of the family and I have yet to post pictures (obviously). Our family had SO much fun. I'm not kidding - I think we did as much as we could every day that we were there. We definitely loved the rides - we were as tired as could be each night and woke up excited to get going every morning. We had decided to take Livvy (finally decided on the vv for her name) and I'm SO SO SO glad we did. She was happy and had fun even when she started throwing up each night (weird, weird, weird). She definitely loved the carousels at both Disney and California Adventure. Whitney said Pirates, Thunder Mountain and Grizzly River Run were some of her tops and Gracie - our little thrill seeker - absolutely loved California Screamin', Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain ( but she REALLY hated Alice in Wonderland & Snow White). I honestly loved it all - I used to get motion sickness back in high school, but for some reason that has gone away and I really enjoyed going on all of the rides with everyone. Jeremy was like a little kid - it was his first time visiting and it did not disappoint. I think he enjoyed the big rides just like me and the twins, but also loved the kiddie ones to. It was a great family vacation that wouldn't have been possible without my mom & dad. We definitely have the Disney bug and can't wait to go again.