The Fourth and a First

That being the 4th of July, of course. And our first river trip of the year, which is quite sad honestly because last year by this time we had already gone multiple times. However with Joe's frequent traveling and the mild spring, we didn't make it out there until the day after the July 4th holiday.

And I should break this up into two posts BUT the way I have been blogging lately (or more accurately not blogging), I am just going to get these two events covered before I blink my eye and a week has gone by.

So my Mom and George's visit coincided with the 4th of July, only this year instead of going to my brother's, we got to host our own shindig in the new house. Our other party guests included the Beyer family, Scottie and Ali and our friend Cruz who just moved duty stations from Pendleton to 29 Palms (in fact, Cruz is the one who is renting our house in 29 Palms, along with his two Great Danes).

We had a lot of fun, ate tons of great food and finished off the night by watching the fireworks show at the high school, which being only 2 blocks down the street, we could see perfectly from our front driveway. Talk about convenient!

Grandma with the kids:

Me and the kids:

Family photo op:

Swimming before dinner:


The girls before fireworks:

Excited for the fireworks. Jadyn asked me, "Mommy, how did you know their would be fireworks tonight?" This looked like a comfortable way to enjoy the show:

But in the end, the four kids decided the top of Joe's Buick would be the best spot for viewing the show:

Scottie and Jadyn (what do you think of her shorter length hair?)

We woke up bright and early the next day and went to the river. The water was P-E-R-F-E-C-T!

But can I just say chocolate bars in 100 degree weather. Not such a good idea.

With the boat successfully launched, we are off!:

As much as he loves it, he still plugs his ears:


Swimming like fish:


And the most random moment of day? When we arrived at our favorite spot and found someone had left a trampoline on the sandbar for every one's enjoyment. Jadyn didn't mind:

I wonder if it will be there when we go next time......