The 4th of July

It was so exhausting celebrating our nation's independence this year. Abby had a blast though, after 4 days of celebrating Abby woke up on Tuesday and asked us whose party we were going to today. We started celebrating in Granville on Friday with the Schott family open house. The Schott's are friends of my sister and every year they have a big party and potluck before the fireworks in Granville. They have a wonderful old home in town with a big front porch and so the location is perfect!! They have a band play, lots of yummy food, a cotton candy machine, kids running all over the yard. The highlight of the party is always the Schotts performance. Their three kids 6,8, and 10 always perform as well as the parents. They are such a talented family and I am so impressed with their kids singing in front of so many people. As always, they did not disappoint! At dusk we walked a short ways to the firework display. Connor was a tropper staying up late for the display and he loved them!! Abby loved the colors, she kept saying it was like crayons in the sky, but she was not a big fan of the noise. After putting the kids to bed, my sister and I also enjoyed a night out at the Schott's basement bar, the Schott glass.
Saturday we headed to my sisters lake house on Apple Valley Lake. It is a beautiful house complete with a movie room in the basement with stadium seating!!! We had a great time playing in the lake-Abby did a great job jumping into the water and swimming in the waves. They also have a dock with an upper level-about ten feet up, that the adults and bigger kids were jumping off. Abby really wanted to jump off this as well, but we kept telling her you had to be at least 4 years old! She is our little daredevil. Connor had fun playing in the baby pool. The party was just for family-my brother in law Matt's family and our family. At night we watched the AppleValley fireworks off of the deck of the dock. Abby liked them a lot better the second night. The noise didn't bother her quite as much(she also enjoyed cuddling with her Aunt Lori). We put Connor to sleep earlier and so he missed the display. What a great time we had eating and playing and catching up with family! We spent all of Sunday playing in the lake, watching Tangled and relaxing.
On Monday the 4th, we went to the parade in Granville and once again caught so much candy in our candy bags. Abby is really fond of parades now because candy is definitely a special treat for her. Connor slept through most of the parade. After the parade we went to the small festival in town where Abby rode the small rides. She amazes us with how brave she is. That evening we headed to Chris and Cara's house for a bbq. Chris is Matt's friend from college who he now works for at the bike shop. Every time we go to their house for dinner the food is amazing. We have bbq chicken with homemade sauce and homemade french fries, fruit salad and smores. It was delicious. We had a great time catching up with adults and Abby and Connor loved playing with the kids. We ended the night with sparklers.
Matt and both agreed that although the weekend was so much fun, we are now ready for some days of recovery. The kids have been sleeping so well the past couple of nights!!!