Independence Day Celebrations

We have had a great couple of days, and the kids have been so good and have had a lot of fun.

On Wednesday, July 3rd, we went to UMass Dartmouth for the Freedom Festival.  This is the same event we attended last year, and it was equally fun except for the fireworks.  Unfortunately, this year it was so cloudy and foggy at night that we could not see the fireworks.  We could hear them, and occasionally see a little flash of light, but once we realized there would be nothing to see, we left (as did everyone else).  It was okay though, the best part of this event each year is just letting the kids run around with friends and have fun.  The Sternes and Finlaws were there again, just like last year, so all of the kids had a great time together.

 Tyler's friend, Drew, came with us too; we were so happy to have him, he's a nice kid.

The kids always love those snap things that you throw on the ground to make a popping noise.

On Thursday, July 4th, we cheered for Dad as he ran in the 4th of July Billington Memorial race in town.

It was SO hot, that I can't imagine how anyone could run; I could barely sit and watch!  We cheered on the runners from Grandma's yard, and Reagan and Collin took turns holding the hose out for any of the runners who wanted to cool off.  Many runners appreciated this gesture!

Yay Dad!  We think you are the best!  Reagan being Reagan kept yelling, "run faster"!

Later in the morning, we went to the beach.  This was our first beach trip of the year.  When we arrived, it was very cloudy and gray (funny how the beach weather can be SO different from the weather at home), but after a while the sun came out.

 Kate HATED the sand.  She did not want to touch it, stand in it, sit in it, or have any of it on her!

She liked being in the water, but she wanted to be held and she wanted us to go out a bit.  The water was COLD, so we didn't go out too far!

As cranky as she looks in these pictures, she was really very good and seemed to like the water a little bit.

 I LOVE all of these pictures of Tyler and Kate.  They are so perfectly sweet, and truly capture their relationship.

Kate took a short nap, but I think it took Daddy more time to get her to sleep than the amount of time she actually spent sleeping.

You can see that by nap time, the sun was beating down on us.

Reagan and Collin enjoyed the water.  You can really see how gray it was when we first arrived in these water pictures.

I couldn't believe how much Collin enjoyed the water.  He usually prefers to play in the sand, and when he does go in the water, he usually doesn't go out too far or play too long, but this time he seemed to enjoy going out a bit farther and playing longer.

There was some sand play too, digging and building, and playing in the sand dunes.

 The sun was very bright at this point.  It was HOT in the sand dunes.

 I think Tyler had a good time too, but he did not heed the sunscreen warnings and ended up with a sunburn.  (As much as I harp about sunscreen, Tom and I both have sunburned feet!  This is not the first time I have forgotten my feet!!)

At dinnertime, we went to Grandma's house for a cookout.  It was a great way to end the day.