Happy 4th of July!

We headed up to the mountain house early Saturday morning to hang out with the fam for the holiday!  My brother and his wife and two daughters came from Nashville, TN, and of course my mom, dad, sister, BIL, and 2 other nieces were there as well.

We hit up the lake area as soon as we arrived. swinging on the swings and catching up with friends.  After some lunch, we all got our suits on and headed down again... this time, to go in the lake!  Taylor and Sydney were rocking it out, swimming out to the deep end (with a noodle for support) with Stephen.  Sydney jumped off the high tower and the diving board.  Taylor opted out of both of those (that's my girl!) but did jump off the docks.  Later, Parker swam out with his puddle jumper and jumped off the docks, too.

Riding with Uncle Bill!

Taylor on the tower.

Parker and Allen, together again!

Sydney jumps in around 0:13.

Look fast- Taylor jumps right away!

Parker's turn.

That afternoon, we watched the annual golf cart parade go by, and got ready for the picnic and square dance.  We ate some good food, danced a couple of dances (but boy, was it h-o-t!  There's no better bonding like dancing with others when you're all drenched in sweat).  When it got dark, the fireworks commenced.  It was a fun day!

Cousins.

Walking through the woods to Aunt Kendall's cabin!

Sunday morning, I went for a walk and had some friends join me.  We went to chapel, ate lunch, and hit up the lake again!  This time, all 5 of us headed out to the deep end and spent a couple of hours out there.  Parker was getting tired and hungry, so I took him back up to the house for a bit.  I think both of us could've taken a nap, but we opted to hang out with Dee Dad on the deck.  Stephen and I escaped the colony for about an hour to run and get some fresh produce from a local stand, as well as boiled peanuts.  Yee haw!  That evening, the boys grilled out and we ate a big dinner and then celebrated Olivia and Matthew's birthdays.  There was a movie playing that night on a big screen that we opted out of, because our kids had a long day and we were going to leave early in the morning.

Saying the pledge at chapel.

Offering.

Male bonding time.

Matthew blowing out his non-existent candles.  It was deemed that many candles would be a fire hazard. ;)

Monday, we woke up, went to eat breakfast at the local eatery, and we were on our way!  We stopped at the outlet stores on our way home to get a few things, thankfully didn't hit any traffic (or get any speeding tickets, those cops were everywhere!) and got settled back home.

So grateful to have the freedom to do all of this.  Happy 4th of July!