4th of July Weekend...

Last Thursday after Cooper's school program, we headed to Gulfport for the 4th of July weekend.  Matt's family always gets together for the 4th so it is packed full of family, beach, and pool (thanks to Uncle Jan and Aunt Kay's condo).

We had a big 4th of July lunch at Matt's parents and then we headed to pool/beach for the afternoon.  

The kid that HATED every minute of swimming lessons (thankfully they are over) can swim...he did not put his floaties on once last weekend and swam all over the pool and beach.  

A couple years ago Matt and I decided to organize a family 5K and the tradition has continued.  I ran earlier so I could hang with this guy...he ran .75 miles and then took a golf cart ride back home to eat a popsicle and wait on everyone else.

Who wouldn't want to run with this cute kid?

Mary Martin was happy at home eating popsicles too...she didn't even attempt to run.  

They did do an awesome job holding the finish line ribbon...

Cooper pointing to the first finishers...

And the winners are Kyle and Kenny...actually Kyle finished earlier, but he was too fast so the ribbon wasn't ready for him.  He got some water and went back and ran back in with his dad and they ran through the ribbon together...

Jim was the course marshall...he and the girls rode around and picked up anyone that didn't want to go the whole way.

The golf cart was very popular...

James, the first kid to finish!

Love all the exaggerated finishing pictures...

Annie, second kid/first girl to finish.  Anna Lauren's excuse for not running is that she didn't have any tennis shoes.  Honestly, I didn't know we were going to do this or I would have packed her some tennis shoes.

Cooper decided he wanted to run a little more and finished with Spencer.  He was funny...Kenny finished without his shirt so Cooper thought he needed to take his off too.

After the race and lunch, we headed to the beach for a little while...Anna Lauren wanted to ride the aqua cycle and talked some others into going to ride with her.

Let's just say there were a lot of smiles and giggles, which made it all worth the $40!

There was a lot of pushing involved with the aqua cycling...

What would we do if our kids had any fear?

Doesn't get much cuter than this...such a good picture of these two cousins!

This kid was having the best time!

Just carefree and loving life...love capturing these moments!

And this is how the aqua cycle ended...Matt and Kate pushing it to shore.

Not sure why I thought I could get a picture of the three of them...

And we ended the day with a little swimming in the condo pool...and stunting, and jumping, and flipping...

Sunday we headed back home and were back to reality this week!

St. Paul 4th of July Program...

Last week Cooper's school had a 4th of July program...

Marching in with his class...the finger, his "nervous" habit...

Can we say "country kid" came to town?  He was suppose to wear red, white, and blue so I had cute blue shorts and a red shirt picked out for him to wear.  However, he was determined to wear his "button" blue jeans (worn out and 3 inches too short) and his boots. He had been crying the past few mornings when we left him at school so we thought what the heck...if he will just go to school happy.  And then...his pant leg is stuck in his boot through the whole program...just one of those "got to laugh" moments.

Proudly holding the sunshine he painted while he sings "You Are My Sunshine"...

Holding the Bible he colored while singing "The B-I-B-L-E"...

He was all smiles throughout the whole program and was so proud of himself when it was over.  And yes, we were just a little proud too!

Loving the "Country"...

Since we were going to Brookhaven yesterday to switch out Anna Lauren and Cooper with Nanna, we decided to spend the day at Joey and Barbie's and let all the kids play together.

I will say days like yesterday make me sad our kids are growing up in the city and missing out on the country life.  I have so many good memories of growing up in the country that they are missing out on. But...at least they have cousins to visit in the country!

The girls...Anna Lauren, Bently, and Breanne

This kid has my heart...my brother will differ, but I think he is the funniest kid.  I cannot stop laughing at him...he lives in his own world, has the craziest ideas, and simply put, loves life!

Ashton and William...

Ashton's four-leader...one of the many things Cooper LOVES at Jo Jo's house!

Anna Lauren has finally decided she wants to learn to ride her bike with no training wheels...so...she and her Daddy took advantage of lots of grassy space to practice.  Hopefully by the end of the summer she will get it!

So how I grew up...in and out of the pool all day long...

Joey thought the kids would enjoy watching the fish eat...they look really entertained, huh?  That would be because the fish never came up and ate...ha ha!

Cannot tell you how many times I played chicken fight in our pool growing up...they were laughing uncontrollably and it just made me smile from ear to ear.

An attempt to take a picture of all four of them...yeah right...not happening!  Look at Ashton...see why I say he is so funny?

Surfing pose...

Sassy doesn't even begin to explain these two...they are both something else!

I thought this was too cute...it rained off and on all afternoon so they swam in between thunder storms.  At one point, Bently was sitting in the rain watching the others swim.

And you must go fishing while you are there...Cooper actually caught a fish, but it slipped out of Ashton's hands when he was getting it off the hook.

And don't forget about a buggy ride with Bob.  I actually went on the ride too...it was pretty fun riding through the woods.

And Uncle Joey caught a fish to end our fun-filled day in the country...

We'll have to go again soon because we had the best day...so much fun to just sit back and relax on the patio while the kids are completely entertained.