Happy 4th

 Holy Smokes!  This was the 4th of July last year!  Look how little these guys are.  I cannot believe how BALD and CHUNKY Andrew was.  I knew he was big but looking back on these pictures makes me realize just how huge he really was.  Wow!  And look, he wasn't quite mobile yet in regards to walking.   It's amazing what one little year can do. 

 And here we are in 2012!  We tried and tried to get some cute pics of these guys together on the 4th, but it was hard.  It was 106 degrees outside, so being out there for that one minute was painful and was all we could take.  Thus, we have what we have and are happy for it. 

 These were taken earlier in the morning.  They are better but we never could get them to look at the same time.  ;-)

 (My camera was having lighting issues, which I'm not spending the time on correcting at the moment).  ;-)

 My little patriotic girl!  She LOVES the 4th!  She was about to burst to get a flag in her hand.  She was so into the whole thing.  She was really excited to wear red, white and blue to match her flag.  It literally was a party all day long, for the kids and the adults. 

 It is so much easier getting pictures of the kids separate, rather than together.  However, I was looking through my pictures the other day, and I realized that I actually have very few pictures of them together.  So, that is my new goal.  At least to try....

 We started off the morning at the Webster Groves parade.  It was SO hot!  We have seriously had a high of 103 or higher every single day for about a week and a half.  Josh's car read 116 after work yesterday.  We're melting over here!  It really is painful. 
Anyways, back to the parade....  It was super fun.  As soon as we pulled up, we said, "We're here".  Anna's response was, "But I don't see any candy!".  She did end up scoring a ton of tootsie rolls, a Popsicle, gum, even a headband!  The parade was great!  It made it feel very 4th of July-ish.

 That girl jumped so fast if she ever thought candy was close by.  How can you refuse that face? 

 I know this may come as a shock, but Andrew was SO calm the whole parade.  We could barely get him to move.  The only time he said anything was when the horses went by.  I think he loved it though.  He was just taking it all in. 

 This is Anna eating her 100th piece of candy.  It's a holiday, right?

 This is the headband someone gave her.  Wow!  We were really impressed.  It was super cute and she LOVED it!  We couldn't get her to take it off all day.  We also had to watch Andrew like a hawk because he was quite interested in stealing it away from her. 

 This was the Bubble Bus.  The picture really doesn't do it justice but it spewed TONS of bubbles.  Anna and Daddy ran out in the street to play in it.  SO FUN!

 What's the 4th of July without some red, white, and blue food?  Oh yea, and it's chocolate.  Mmm Mmm!  We do love good food and lots of it. This was our very patriotic trifle.  

 Our friends, the Armstrongs, invited us over for a 4th of July BBQ.  It was super fun.  We had lots of good food and the kids got to play in water games.  We all had a great time.

 The slip and slide was a major success.  All of the kids were going crazy! 

 Andrew loves to jump like a mad man.  He makes the biggest splashes too.  He loves to swim in the big pool at our apartment complex, but this little kiddie pool may have taken the gold.  He was in heaven. 

,

 Darling! 

It was probably the best 4th we've had yet!  Our whole day was jam packed with fun stuff.  Josh and I even got to watch fireworks from our couch that some people were shooting off next to us.  It was a perfect day!  Happy Independence Day everyone!