We started off the week with a family reunion honoring Curtis' late grandpa, Wilbur Farrall. He would have celebrated his 100th birthday, so we got the whole family together at the picnic shelter at Lakeview Park. There were many relatives that I hadn't met (and honestly, since I had to spend most of the afternoon inside our house while Katy and Scarlett napped, I still haven't met most of them!)...I think there were around 50 people there. I did enjoy looking through some old photo books, since I never met his grandpa and just barely remember his grandma.
There was lots of food and lots of talking!
There just wasn't a great time to celebrate Katy's birthday this year...so we sneaked in a little celebration for her. She was pretty shy, so Lane had to open her presents for her! Since she really didn't like the attention, we skipped the whole cake/candle/singing part.
She really liked this card from Brent and Christi, though!
On Tuesday night, (sorry, there's no pictures of this!) my cousin, Cindy, and her boyfriend Brian stopped by my grandparent's house on their way from New York to Oregon. We got to hang out with them for a little while - ate some curry and rice, laughed alot, and visited Bret and Laura's chickens. The chickens were the highlight :)
Wednesday was the day I was looking forward to! The 4th of July is my second favorite holiday (right behind Christmas). I love fireworks, family, and homemade ice cream! This is the second year that we've "tailgated" at the York fireworks and I hope to make it a tradition. It's so fun to hang out for awhile and then view the fireworks from lawn chairs (and they're far enough away that the kids aren't scared!).
Since I knew most of my family would be there anyway, we celebrated Katy's birthday.
I made a fruit tray and cupcakes and Casey brought popcorn from Ace (thanks!).
Even though it was past bedtime, Scarlett was great - she mostly hung out on this blanket until it got dark!
The kids and boys played some football/soccer/catch.
Once again, Lane had to open Katy's presents for her! She was excited about them, just didn't like all the attention.
I bought glow stick bracelets for all the kids. It turned out to be a good way to keep track of them in the dark!
The party got even bigger when a few friends "crashed" it right before the fireworks started. Rob and Lindsey and Jake showed up, and Katy was pretty excited to share a glowy balloon with her friend. Curtis said that Katy and Jake talked all through the fireworks. Then Craig and Christine and their kids pulled in next to us, and thankfully ate the rest of my cupcakes ;)
Scarlett was actually pretty content sitting on grandma's lap! Doesn't happen very often :)
Lane talked and talked and talked the whole fireworks show, he was so excited! Scarlett was a little scared, so she kept trying to bury her face in my shoulder and sleep the whole time. She ended up crying most of the way home. Despite a meltdown right before the fireworks, Katy had a blast looking at them through her "bugnoculers!"
So fun!
The next night, we were invited over by some friends from church. It was fun hanging out with the Ladehoffs, the Bergens, and the Yosts! The kids were pretty tired, so I don't think they had as much fun as they thought they were going to. We ended up leaving before the fireworks because Katy just couldn't handle it anymore.
The little kids were all ready to watch! Makes me a little nervous to see Lane lighting fireworks (even though they were just smoke bombs and parachutes!). All the dads got into the fireworks too - I think Curtis even had a few offers to buy his torch :)
I think this was right before Katy burned her hand on a smoke bomb. That pretty much ruined her fun.
Lane loved the sparklers! We still have a few left, so we'll probably finish them off this weekend when Henderson has fireworks.
A very busy, but fun week! Looking forward to this one slowing down a little...and hoping we can all get a little more sleep!
