Our 4th of July with the Barrys!

This weekend we had a visit from my sis-in-law, Leslie, her sweet husband, Rob and their precious boys Jackson and Benjamin! We loved hanging out with them and the girls had so much fun playing with Jackson and lovin' on baby Benjamin! It was really fun to see how Evynn and Jackson played together this time now that she is a little older. They definitely bonded during this visit! :-)

On Friday night Sweet Pea and Papa Martin came over and kept the kids while Leslie, Rob, Alan and I went for a date night at Abuelos. We enjoyed good food, my favorite margaritas...yum, live music on the patio and some great conversation. Sweet Pea took some pics for me while we were out and looks like the kiddos had an equally good time!

After getting to bed REALLY late both Thursday and Friday nights we decided not to drag our families to the 4th on Broadway parade this year. Instead we took them out to our street and pulled them in a wagon with all their 4th of July gear. It was MUCH simpler...didn't have to fight a crowd at all. That simple experience confirmed that we had made the right decision...the kids were super sweet and even smiled a couple times for me but were obviously SO tired and not in the mood for a crowd or the heat. So, we hung out at the house...most of the day in our pj's...cooked burgers out for lunch and enjoyed an afternoon nap. That evening we went up to the fire station and the kids did their sparklers in the station drive...at least we were in a good spot if we started a fire! :-) The kids did really well with the sparklers...with our supervision, of course. It was fun to watch the expressions on their sweet faces! Of course we took advantage of the opportunity for pics on the fire engine and Alan even dressed Les and I up in his fire gear. I learned that it is even hotter and heavier than it looks! I can't imagine being in a fire or out on the street working an accident in 100+ degree weather! Whew! We had a fun evening with my sweet hubby...despite the fact that he was on duty!

When we got home that evening we put the kids to bed as fast as we could. The previous two nights of 11:00 bed times had definitely taken their toll on our little punkins. But as soon as we laid them down the fireworks really started. I tired to convince the girls that the loud popping was completely harmless but when Leslie came in and told me there was quite a show going on in our own neighborhood we all thought we better check it out. There were seriously fireworks EVERYWHERE in our neighborhood...crazy people popping them in their backyards! I think we had the best seat in town! Emmerson was SO excited and when a really big one would go up she would, with MUCH drama say, "Ahhh! It's ALL for us!" I wish I could have had a recording of her sweet voice and sweet reaction to the fireworks that night! Love that sweet girl!

Sunday evening we had Mark, Renee and Granny Jo over for dinner. We enjoyed dinner together, a good visit and then a little concert put on by the Martin girls! They really hammed it up for their captivated audience! :-)

On Monday Jackson joined Emmerson in her gymnastics class. It was cute to see the 2 of them together...a little silly but still great little gymnasts! After gymnastics we said our goodbyes and the Barrys were on the road again. We loved having them here and we're always looking forward to our next visit!

Friday night...Date Night/Fun Night with Papa and Sweet Pea

Evynn kept me company while I cut up a watermelon...a must for the 4th!

We had our own little 4th of July Parade!

I think Emmerson's favorite part of the weekend was being able to love on sweet little Benjamin!

Of course we enjoyed play time in the backyard!

What's better than watermelon and Cheetos?!

The 4th at the fire station...

The Barry Family

We tried to get Evynn in our picture but she wasn't having it...complete family pictures are a rare thing around here!

Sparkler time!

Alan getting Leslie all "geared up!"

Jackson and Evynn playing on the fire pole!

My turn in Alan's fire gear!

The girls wanted a turn too!

Dinner on Sunday night... Evynn loved playing with Granny Jo!

Tumbling fun on Monday! Daddy talking to Evy about cartwheels!

Emmerson played photographer for us as we said our goodbyes...

Sweet cousins...

And as if this post wasn't long enough...I have a little video clip!

Thanks for coming Leslie and Rob...for enduring the crazy, sleep deprived nights so we could hang out! We love y'all!