4th of July weekend

We headed up to the mountains Friday morning to celebrate the Fourth!  We got up around 1 PM, and got to see Grandmom and Dee Dad; Uncle Bill, Aunt Jen, Olivia, and Ava from Nashville; and Aunt Kendall, Uncle Matthew, Madeline and Kerrigan!  We hung out, rode the golf cart (Parker wouldn't stop talking about it all weekend!), and caught up.  I had made dinner for everybody Friday night, and my mom made a yummy blackberry cobbler for dessert.  We set off some firecrackers before bed.  Sydney slept over at my sister's cabin, while I shared my parents' big bed with Taylor and Parker.  Needless to say, I didn't get a very restful night's sleep, though I did absolutely love having my little boy's chubby cheeks right in my face.  Really.

Saturday morning, Stephen and I got up extra early to head to Easley, SC to run a race!  We ran the same race last year.  It's called the Firecracker Frolic 5K.  It was supposed to pour down rain, but thankfully it held off.  It was overcast, cool, with a few light sprinkles at the end... basically, the weather was perfect for a race!  After that, we went back to the cabin and the kiddos headed down to the lake.  They made tie-dye t-shirts that afternoon, ate some watermelon, hung out on the deck.  We went to the picnic and square-dance that evening, followed by a spectacular fireworks show which, by some miracle, all three of my kiddos made it through without crying!

My nieces painted Parker's fingernails...

All seven cousins!

All of my fireworks shots looked like either bombs or fire!

Sunday, my sister, sister-in-law and I walked 4 miles through the beauty of the mountains.  We went to church and then had a little birthday party for my niece, Olivia, who turned 7!  We headed back home after that, and made it home in time to watch the USA women win the World Cup!  Go America!

This is pretty much what the whole weekend was like.  On the plus side, though... it wasn't hot!

Happy 7th birthday to Olivia!

They slept the whole way home.