After a fun-filled time at the beach, we dropped by the house for a night and then headed out again to San Antonio! Matt stayed behind this time to work on unpacking boxes (someone has to do it!) while the rest of us continued the fun!
Even though we stopped for play time at the children’s museum in San Antonio, this girl was still ready to run once we got to the Larson’s house. She just loves to run these days and she had the space to do it!
The boys were much more excited about riding around in the golf cart than running. I can’t blame them - it is a much faster mode of transportation. And Theresa’s oldest niece was there to be a pretty reliable driver. ;)
Natalie apparently liked the golf cart rides as well - she was very insistent that Henry continue carrying her around inside the house!
She was also a little bit obsessed with staring through the see -through part of her dress! Apparently she likes the world to be more rosy colored! And thankfully she had shorts on underneath so she wasn’t showing her diaper to everyone. ;)
The only downside to fourth of July celebrations is that they are in the hottest part of the year for Texas! Luckily, the Larson’s have a pool! While the boys are doing better at swimming, they still aren’t trustworthy to not have eyes on them. And since I was outnumbered, they also got the extra security of life jackets! (Thankfully Theresa still had some of their old ones that would still fit on the boys!)
Natalie and I even got some hang-out time in the pool. She’s not terribly sure about this whole “swimming” in a pool thing. She much prefers the beach where the water is ankle depth…!
Brittney & Rachael also joined in the fun with their kids - which was when we realized that between all of us, we have a lot of kids. 10 to be exact! Though Anna is missing because she was still off at summer camp. She was bummed to miss out on the fun, but having a blast anyhow!
Pinata time! It’s pretty much a tradition at any kind of party with kids these days… :)
Youngest goes first! Natalie is actually the second youngest, but Charlie didn’t seem interested in taking a turn. And while you might think I did all of the work, Natalie was actually quite keen on whacking the pinata with the bat. She’s developing quite the arm!
Henry obviously knows what to do with the bat and went to town on trying to get some candy out!
By the time it was Thomas’ turn, we were getting worried if the pinata would ever break! It was making a weird metal sound when you hit it and was not giving much ground. So once all the kids had a turn, one of the adults went to town and finally got it broken apart.
It was me!
And there are no photos to show how much fun I was having or what a good job I did. Boo! :(
We didn’t have any treat bags, so Theresa went to scrounge something up for collecting candy. But before she got back, Henry came up with the brilliant idea to use the cones from the pinata to store candy. He’s a creative one!
Finally it was time to blow some stuff up! Josh had mowed us a launch pad and pathway in the front yard for us to shoot fireworks from. More importantly though - it got rid of the grass burrs in the area. While I have strong memories of them as a kid growing up in Texas, my children are completely unaware of the danger that lurks in the lawn. They would have been easy prey. ;)
We also hauled down a bunch of chairs so everyone could relax and enjoy the show. Though the people without kids definitely had a more relaxing show…
I had a chair for Natalie, but decided my life would be easier if I corralled her into the stroller so I knew where she was at all times. She didn’t seem to mind - she was entertained enough by watching. And you can see she scraped her knee in the same spot again. At least she’s consistent…?
Like any good parents, we had the kids covered for hearing protection! I can’t even remember if I had my own ears protected, but none of the kids were getting hearing damaged tonight! Even Natalie had a pair that she kept on during the big fireworks!
But in addition to the big firecrackers, Justin brought a ton of smaller fireworks for the kids to play with. I only got a few photos while trying to manage multiple small children around gunpowder, but this one was by far my favorite! A fireworks sword and Henry so proud of himself for using it. Love it!
It was great time of celebration with friends and kids! We all agreed to try and make a tradition of it, so we’ll see how big the show gets next year! :)