4th of July Celebration

This year we were grateful that Tim had the 4th off, as well as many of our friends.  It seems like the last few years he has had to work, so we took the opportunity to have a BBQ and celebrate.  Though the weather forecast was DEFINITELY not on our side, we still had a great time. 

Tim manned the grill, everyone brought yummy sides and due to the impending rain it wasn't too hot to eat outside.  We just made it through dinner outback and got things pretty much cleaned up and all the kids were playing when the rain started.  I don't think it actually stopped raining until the 5th around noon.  So for a while the guys found refuge in the garage and the kids and wives were inside....unfortunately for the guys it didn't take us all long to migrate out to the garage as well.  Since our house isn't exactly kid friendly just yet (no toys) it wasn't much fun for them to be cooped up inside when they could be playing in the rain.  Thank goodness, Sharon, our neighbor is equipped with everything a kid could want.  She ran over and got some bubbles and then they were entertained until it was dark enough that we could attempt to shoot off some fireworks. 

Even though the rain continued we (the guys) were still able to rush out in the rain to light of some fireworks.  Some of them may have gotten tossed from the garage, to which the kids reminded their dads that, " we aren't suppose to do that with fireworks!"  Guess, they were listening all along!! The girls loved doing their sparklers, and were going through them faster than Tim could get them lit, and even though kids and dads were soaked it turned out to be a great evening!  Chanute has a large city display every year that we had planned to head over to, however, with he rain we just decided to stay here at the house.  Fortunately, we live close enough to the park that we could walk about half a block and have a decent view.  I do think that it rained harder in those few minutes that we watched than any other time all night...the girls were having more fun with the umbrellas than actually watching the fireworks. 

I got a few pictures before it started to rain, but once that started I opted to keep our new camera operating and not take it out into the rain.  Here is a few of the ones I was able to get.  I am still figuring out the camera so they aren't perfect, but I am learning!

The fish in the back yard were a big hit!

The guys had been "practicing" their roping skills, however, that didn't last long and it became more fun to ride the steer!

Bubbles in the rain

Tim, showing them how it's done with the snap its!

At the end of the evening the girls were soaked, freezing, and ready for a break. They asked if they could sit on my lap with the baby, so sweet!!  They told me all they are going to teach her about, I think she will be in good hands!