4th of July

We planned our trip to Idaho around the 4th of July this year. Crazy as it sounds, Idaho Falls is the place to be for good fireworks. It is said to be the best fireworks show west of the Mississippi, and I believe it. For years, it has been tradition for my family to head to the greenbelt first thing in the morning to stake out our spot (the hard core people camp out the night before!) and then we spend the rest of the day walking around, playing games, and sometimes barbecuing. I've talked up these fireworks to Jon for years (and I'm not even a big fireworks person), but my talking them up did no justice. He was really impressed. The show lasts at least 30 minutes, and the fireworks are choreographed to music on a local radio channel. It's just really cool. Jon said after every big round, he thought it was over, and then was surprised to see even bigger and better fireworks. The kids loved it and could have watched all night. The only bummer about the fireworks is getting home in the traffic afterwards....but it was totally worth it.

It was way too hot to try and stay all day, so everybody took turns hanging out throughout the day.

Abby brought her friend, Greg, who won all the kids over with cotton candy. 

Me and Abby

The dollar store glow sticks that we picked up on our way to the greenbelt were a hit (and they were MUCH cheaper than the same ones people were selling there)

My sister in law brought these (I can't think what they're called....noise blockers???) for the babies. Ellie thought they were fun to play with, but Emma ended up wearing them.  :)

The night before the 4th of July, we set off some little fireworks in front of my parents house.

I LOVE this picture

And I love this little succession of pictures of Ellie with my mom

The kids are slightly obsessed with chickens right now, so this egg-laying-hen was a favorite.

It took the kids FOREVER to try the sparklers. They were so afraid, but by the time they decided to try them, they were almost all gone. 

This was one of my favorite nights in Idaho.