me & em & buddy pete: scenes from our Fourth

Happy 235th Birthday to our great nation! I’m sitting in my living room, listening to our town’s fireworks. Tis the life with small kids, I suppose. But don’t let me fool you; this has been The. Best. Fourth. Ever. The whole weekend was fantastic- so much fun with friends and family. God Bless America!

Em and I headed to a water park with some friends. She was so brave, riding waterslides and bouncing on the waves in the wave pool. It was the best time I’ve had with her in a long while (Disney World included!)

We met up with some friends for a cookout and some fun. E loves to hang with L and T…

…partially because they have The. Best. Toys!

She lit her first sparklers this year. The kiddos were funny-after about 5 minutes, one of them piped up with “Why are we doing this again?” Um, well, hmmm. Not sure what this has to do with anything, as a matter of fact :)

Adri and I are college sorority sisters and former roommates, and she’s married to one of my good high school friends. Always good times with these guys!

I vowed not to stress out about Emerson’s bedtime and let her stay up late with the other kids. But at 8:30, she said “Mom, I’m ready to go to bed.” Don’t have to tell me twice. We got her ready and snugged in, and a then neighbor started a (2 hour!!) private fireworks show. We got to see the whole thing from the backyard,which was awesome but also pretty loud. Pete was down in the bunker (basement) but when I went in to check in Miss E a bit after it started, she was still up. We invited her to come outside to see the fireworks, and I was able to capture some priceless photos of her first ever fireworks show. She was totally captivated!

Not to be outdone, Mr. Pete was pretty cute himself. He loves to be the center of attention, and he certainly got his fair share at Grandma and Grandpa’s party today.