Happy 4th of July!

Independence Day 2013

July 4th began with water fun on the deck. Grandma Barb and Bapa gave us a water table and the kids played with it all morning. Splash!

After afternoon naps, we headed to Lake Nokomis in Minneapolis for a little stroll around the lake. Actually, we walked a quarter of the way to the beach, slid down a slide once, then turned around to go back.

On our way back, we stopped at Fat Lorenzo's for dinner - pizza. The weather was beautiful, sunny, and warm with a slight breeze. It was a no-brainer to sit outside!

Girls on one side...

Boys on the other!

Before we had left, Mom surprised us with an ice cream treat - Chocolate Chip Gelato. Everyone enjoyed it. In fact, Laura and Mom fought for the final scoops!

Super excited to eat chocolate chip gelato!

Even Ryan couldn't resist! He gave Mom a big landing spot for the spoon.

Laura's first fireworks

I had asked Laura earlier in the day if she wanted to see the fireworks. If you remember, she has been no fan of the loud boomers. She answered "YES!" with excitement but also had concerns that they would be too loud. Rather than drive somewhere, we chose to sit on our deck and watch our neighbors blow them off. It's not a bad show.

We told her to fall asleep and we would wake her up when it was time. Wishful thinking. She came up with every excuse in the book on why she came out of her room. Who could blame her?!?

Once the neighborhood fireworks started, Laura screamed with excitement. She told us, "This is the best night ever!"

"This is the best night ever!"

This was her face after every firework! Priceless.

Great view of our neighbors blowing off big fireworks!

The amazing thing about the fireworks was that Ryan slept through the whole thing! FYI - Ryan is a very light sleeper!!! If the TV is too loud or someone walks by his door and steps on a creeky floor board, he wakes up! I can't believe he slept through it.