The Fourth of July

We spent the 4th over in Manson again this year. It was really the only time we could head over during the summer, unless we are able to find another weekend in August sometime.

We had to wait for the garbage trucks come collect before we could leave, and the drive over was pretty good. We stopped off in Leavenworth so the kids could get some McDonald's, and then again in Wenatchee so Emily and I could also get some lunch at Taco Del Mar.

We arrived in the afternoon, and the girls immediately found Gpa's stash of water balloons and convinced him to fill them up for them. Out of respect and gratitude, they bit the hand that fed them and began pelting him with the balloons. It was really hot, so I don't think anyone really cared if they got wet. 

The next morning, we met Rissa and Lindsea and their kids down at Singleton. Like usual, the swings are where Harlow and Crewe want to be.

Cambri was showing off how high she can get now. Just a few short months ago she needed us to push her, but now she's able to do it all on her own.

The kids then found the spinner-cup thing and Crewe enjoyed that one quite a bit. He could not stand at all after he got out of it.

The teeter-totter got some attention, too.

Every now and then they can appear helpful and kind to each other.

Cambri constantly talks about Rissa's little farm, and so she was extremely excited when she got to go see it again. They have it a lot more cleaned up now, and have included a little garden area with various berries.

I don't know what this pose it, but it's what she has started doing when she gets ready for a picture.

Travis let Rock fly his drone, and in turn let Cambri take a crack at it.

Bristol was popular with everyone, and remained pretty chill throughout the weekend.

Cambri's favorite thing to do was to chase and pickup the chickens, especially the big ones.

It's always fun to see the cousins, especially the ones we don't get to see too often because they live across the US.

Also, credit for some of these photos goes to Rissa and Lindsea, I stole a lot of these from them.

Both Gma and Gpa got in some Bristol cuddles.

Cambri likes to pose with her hands on her hips lately, and can't forget to tilt the head. She has proven to be our most outgoing kid so far. Hadley spent a lot of time playing Among Us with her cousins, while Cambri mostly wanted to be doing what others were doing, but mostly just kept asking when she could go get some eggs from Rissa's.

Off catching chickens again.

Hadley also really enjoyed the animals and farm. Rissa took them one night and they were there for almost two hours just playing with the animals. I had to throw them both in the bath when they got back because they were extremely dirty. 

Cambri had asked Gma to make some cinnamon rolls, so of course Gma obliged. They turned out great, and didn't last long at all.

After we got the kids fed and cleaned up, Emily dressed them in their 4th of July outfits for a picture. As you can tell, it didn't exactly go too well.

Crewe boy always finds the pots and pans. He made sure Emily or myself stayed close at all times. Of course he started getting a couple more teeth, so he was rather cranky for much of the time.

This is what Hadley did a lot. I know when I was young, all I wanted to do was play video games all day. It's bonding time with her cousins, right? One of the things about the 4th of July in Manson, is that there are a lot of tourists in town, and they bog up the lake. So, it gets hard to want to go out and do stuff. It also didn't help that we didn't get to go to Stutzman's this week either.

Crewe is always there to make sure Bristol is doing okay, and likes to pat her on the head.

He is also climbing on everything, and tries his best to get up on the tables or counters. It's exhausting.

Jensley and her friend did some face painting to get the kids ready for the fireworks.

Emily was exhausted, and just wanted to lay down and relax. So, that's what she did after we got Crewe and Harlow to sleep. Meanwhile, I took Hadley and Cambri down to Hal's for the firework show.

Throughout the show, Hadley kept a live-ranking of each one, and based it off of how high they went, how big they were, and their color. It was pretty cute to see her continue to be impressed.

Cambri stayed awake this time, unlike last year.

Another perk about Gma and Gpa's is the endless supply of soft serve, and the kids definitely took advantage of it. I know I did.

This Barbie car was taking up too much space in our garage, so we had sent it over with Gpa a few months back. Cambri drove it around pretty well, while Harlow would just ram into everything.

A couple of days were spent at Doug and Jama's pool not too far from Rissa's. Hadley was trying really hard to swim across the shallow end without her life jacket, and she did very well. Towards the end she was swam across without stopping to touch the bottom, and was very proud about that.

Harlow out cold, and then Hadley stole her chips.

If not chickens, then why not cats?

It was a good week, and always a blast to spend time with family. We headed out Saturday night after getting the kids in their pajamas. We did not want to deal with Sunday traffic in Hwy 2.