Our 4th Weekend

We spent our first 4th of July at home in I don't know how long. We were thankful to have a semi-relaxing extended weekend after all of us being sick for so long. It worked out good too b/c we ended up needing to meet the pediatrician on Sunday morning b/c Collin started running a fever again and wasn't feeling well. (He got started on a new antibiotic b/c the doctor thought his sinus infection wasn't getting better).

While I was at the hospital with Collin, Dave was at church with Benjamin and Anna. Our church celebrated the 4th by having an outdoor church service. As you will see below, Benjamin had a full fun day. As I was cuddling him to sleep that night, I asked him what his favorite part of the day was and he said, "Having church outside." :)

Here are the kids in their 4th of July gear. When I had them sit down together, Benjamin and Anna both automatically started loving on their baby brother....


I really struggle to get both Benjamin and Anna to smile for the camera at the same time...

I decided to try out a new cake idea....

Here's Benjamin and Anna with their friends at their new outside table. They've been so excited that the table has extra chairs for when Collin gets bigger and when friends come over. So I think they were pretty pleased to finally get to have a full table!

Benjamin was so proud b/c he was the only one who was more excited about the cake than swimming and finished his piece before going to get in the pool. :)

Anna looked so cute in her 4th of July outfit to me, that I had to get a few more pictures of her before changing her into her bathing suit.

We filled the pool earlier in the day so the water would warm up and it drove Anna crazy all day (not being able to get in).

Look how long her hair is!

Our kiddie pool got a crack in it (after several years of fun), so we went big and got a much larger pool than our last one. We figured we needed the upgrade since next year there will be three bodies splashing around in it. :) The kids really love it and they had a great time playing with their friends.

They also played in the sprinkler and made water slides with the hose and had a grand time!

Bet you can't guess what Benjamin is doing..... ;)

(Dave was the one to grab the camera and commemorate this moment)

Collin looked so cute in his outfit too. You can tell here that he didn't feel good.

It may be rude, but I love taking pictures of Benjamin when he's talking to me excitedly. He's such a vibrant little guy! Don't you just love his dimples?!?! :)

After all the kids were in bed, the fireworks started. Benjamin takes quite a while to fall asleep and was still awake. When the fireworks started he came down. We decided to be cool parents and let him stay up til almost 11:00 watching fireworks with us. The neighborhoods around us spend quite a bit of money on fireworks apparently and we had quite the show all around our house. Dave brought some kitchen chairs up into our bathroom (it was the best view) and we sat together watching the show!

I've taken to calling Collin "Giggles" b/c he does this new thing: He laughs/giggles all the time. If I giggle back to him, he will then repeat it back again to me. It's so cute! Another favorite thing that Collin does right now is give kisses. I say his name, he turns to look at me, I pucker my lips for a kiss, he opens his mouth and leans into my lips, I then squeal thank you happily, and he gives me a big smile. It's pretty much one of the sweetest things ever! Collin prefers to pull up onto the bouncy chair than to actually sit in it these days.....

I love that Benjamin will get down on Collin's level and play with all the baby toys with him.

Anna kept climbing up and laying with her Daddy. When I grabbed the camera, they of course had to do a proper pose....

Anna's doing a new thing that tickles me. Instead of saying yes or no, she now nods. She does it with this sweet little expression and it just makes me smile every time! Here's my pretty girl!

Cheese!

Our friends from NY (we lived in married student housing together at Purdue) came into the area to see family. They were kind enough to drive to our house and we got to hang out for a bit. It was great to see them and catch up. Anna loves watching videos of their daughter, Sariah, on their blog. So she was overjoyed that her friend was coming to her house!

Anna's got cute dimples too! :)

We had a great three-day weekend!