Happy Fourth Of July!!!

4th of July means the parade!!!! YAY - We love the parade and our city's parade is the largest one in the whole state of Texas!!! We have years and years of memories and this year it was really fun thinking that next year we will have two seven month olds with us!!!! Usually the boys go and park our truck in the shade really early so that when we get there, we have tailgates to sit on and shade to enjoy the parade. This year, I volunteered to go instead of Todd since I am awake super early anyways these days due to some crazy pregnancty insomnia. So Jack and I drove our trucks and my sweet mom followed us to give us a ride home. Then I had all kinds of time to get stuff done. I got things ready for our party and had time to go and pick up breakfast for everyone to have at the parade. Individual bags of donut holes for the kids were a huge hit and will probably become firmly cemented in our traditions in the future!

Laney loves any chance to get to see Tessa, so when I woke her up this morning after her super late night the night before, all I had to do was tell her that Tessa was on her way to pick her up and play. That put a smile on her face and she was ready to go. Laney LOVES Uncle Jack. She doesn't get to spend lots of time with him, but he has definitely made an impression on her because every time that we go to Jessica's house she starts asking for him . When we started setting up our chairs and getting situated for the parade, Laney walked right over to Jack and climbed up in his lap. We thought that it was so sweet, but I never imagined that she would stay there the whole entire time. She sure did though!! Beginning to end, she only left her Uncle Jack's lap for a few minutes. What a sweet uncle!

Laney spent the whole parade clapping with her paper flag. At this point she was using it to blow kisses to the passing floats.

It was a great day for Uncles!!! Claire and Tessa spent a lot of time in the bed of our truck playing all kinds of fun games with Todd. Laney gave her chair a try for some of the parade. The chair didn't last long....back to Laney's favorite seat of the day - Uncle Jack's lap!
After the parade, we continued our tradition of ice cream from Brusters. It was just as good as we remembered from last year.
By the time Jess and I made it back to the picnic tables after ordering, the kids were mostly finished, and Uncle Jack, still Laney's lap of choice, was mostly covered with ice cream! After ice cream, our families each headed home. We started to get ready for our annual 4th of July party. This was our seventh party, and it was just as fun as ever. It was a bit smaller this year and much more centered on all of our kids, which of course, was awesome!

Jess and Jack let us borrow their slide. Ella and Laney started climbing up it the second that they got in the backyard. With no water, it was easy for them to climb up and bounce down. They were loving it!
They both stood at the bottom clapping for each other. Such sweet friends!
Have I mentioned that Laney loves to bounce??
Double Trouble!

Claire gave Laney a ride in her power wheels truck. Laney is still a little hesitant to drive it herself, but she was loving being chauffered by Claire Bear.

We also set up the baby splash pool for the kids to play in. As it was filling up with water, they all got in to splash around. Laney just climbed right in and laid her head back to lounge a little. What a goofball?!
The lounging didn't last long. There was too much fun to be had with her cousins and friends in the pool!

During all this fun, Todd was working diligently at the grill making sure that we had yummy burgers and hot dogs to fuel our play!!Part of our party each year is our dessert and side dish competition. Everyone brings a dish to compete for titles like Most Creative, Most Patriotic, and Best Presentation. Jack has had a five year consecutive run in wins for Most Creative. This year was no exception. He made a gas pump cake complete with a fully functioning pump full of "gas" Unanimous Win!!! My mom is also highly competitive and created this dessert earning her a win in Best Presentation! Most of our guests left in time to catch some fireworks. But, we got to hang out with Heath, Janelle and Ella and have so much fun. Laney and Ella were having a blast. They were being very silly, stealing hamburger buns off the table and sneaking them around in their strollers for snacks. Here they are playing Ring Around the Rosey, which is Laney's favorite game lately. When Todd and I play it with her, we always "fall asleep" whenever we all fall down. We stay asleep until Laney gives us a kiss. It is great motivation to start a game with her since we know that we will get a kiss at the end!!