Fourth of July Slip 'n Slide and Sparklers

After a nap and outfit change for Maya, our 4th of July parties continued.  In the afternoon, we headed to a birthday party for one of my best friends' husband.  Maya was excited to be among friends and family, as my parents met us at the party.

Collin attempted the slip and slide for the first time in his life.  None of the adults had swim clothes, so we tried to show him how to do it off a youtube video on a phone.

He never really got the slide part of it going.

But he had fun inching forward like a snake on his elbows through the water.

Katelyn splashed around at the end, but didn't even attempt the run and slide part after watching Collin's lack of success.

Silly boy spitting water at the camera.

Bad manners but fun photos -

An outdoor party isn't complete without a water gun fight with Brownie -

Maya discovered ice and decided she's a fan - 

She's also a fan of this man.  He came home the other evening but took a work call from his car.  She saw him on the driveway and stood at the window saying "Dada, dada" just waiting for him to come inside and toss her into the air.  

More chalking, with a little chalk on the upper lip and cheek -

Collin held a beer while a sparkler was being lit, so of course he needed to pose with it.  

First time with the sparkler.  He had a very healthy appreciation that it was fire, keeping a close eye on it, and was quite nervous that it would burn all the way down to his hand.

We took Collin that night to his first 4th of July fireworks, but it was a rainy evening, full of thunderstorms, so we watched an abbreviated show from the safety of our car.  Despite the stormy evening, we had a great fourth of July!

Fourth of July parade

On the 4th of July, we sported our red, white and blue upon waking, and headed to our neighborhood village parade which began at 9am.  The parade started with neighbors on their bikes.

Then came the marching band.

And after that, fire trucks and fancy cars drove by throwing candy.  Collin loaded up and Maya waved.  A nice passerby took a family shot which I ruined by blinking.

It was a morning of easy, free entertainment.  We saw some friends from church at the parade, who introduced us to their neighbors, who invited us to their neighborhood party.  So we ran home, grabbed a bathing suit so Collin could play on the water slide, and crashed their party.

Next stop before afternoon naps was my grandma's house.  Collin was rewarded with a medal which he proudly wore.

Maya doesn't need a medal to pose or be happy!

Thanking B for the superman flashlight toy.

Showing a delighted Maya the new toy -

We played for awhile and then headed home to rest up before the next party.

Super Collin and super happy Maya at the Children's Museum

We met my mom for the first of many split-up trips to the Children's Museum.  Last summer, Maya came along with Collin for the ride and slept through half her time in the museum.  This year, she's all over the place, and has a ball in the tot spot, while Collin enjoys the countless exhibits downstairs.  

Typical boy, Collin couldn't simply pretend to fish in the boating area, the fish had to battle one another. 

We switched kids halfway through our visit, and Grammy got a few pictures of our very happy girl in the tot spot area for the under-three-year-olds.

She loved the slides and tunnels for crawling.  She found a spot to crawl up a slide and into the tea party house, landing on the tea party table.  Our little explorer loves to climb and has not yet developed a healthy appreciation for why it's not always best to be on top of any object she can ascend.

Downstairs with me, Collin and I made a superman cape and mask for our super Collin.  And then he did NOT want to take it off the rest of the morning.  He completed the superhero obstacle course, where between the protective eyeglasses and mask, I'm pretty sure 90% of his vision was obscured for the frisbee target throw -

Super Collin with the water table and upstairs in the tot spot cars and trikes area.

Posing heroically next to the super cow!

I fed Maya lunch while Collin and my mom played a little bit longer, so when they reunited after being pretty much separated in the morning at the museum, he rushed in with a big hug, and she reciprocated with a smile and pat on the back.

Our cousins, Leah and Matt's wedding

My cousin Leah is five years and one week younger than me, and my closest cousin in age.  When she was born, I was thrilled to have a cousin.  I loved thinking that I was taking care of her when she was a toddler and then becoming friends with her as we grew.  She is smart, beautiful, funny, and just a lovely, interesting person, and we were delighted that she found a wonderful match in Matt!  

We were so excited to go to Austin in June for their wedding.  On Saturday afternoon, we met my parents, brother and sister-in-law at our hotel for the night.  We spent so long catching up and taking photos that we left the hotel eleven minutes before the wedding was to start.  But at least the photos with our sweet boy proved to be worth the rush - 

We pulled up exactly at 5:00pm, and Cas dropped us off at the door so we could hustle into the gardens and museum.  Someone in my family heard that the ceremony was taking place inside the museum, so we stepped up our clothes for a museum wedding instead of following the advice on the wedding invitation (which I of course saw after the wedding) to dress casually for a Texas summer wedding.  So we rush in and see my uncle, father of the groom, in a short-sleeve Hawaiian shirt.  Poor Cas in his long sleeve dress shirt and tie shot me some not-so-loving glances!  And after the harried drive to the wedding from our hotel, we then then had plenty of time to say hi to everyone, explore the beautiful setting, yell for Collin and Bryce who had wandered off on a garden hike when everyone else was gathered for the ceremony, and snap one picture of the beautiful and happy bride and groom-to-be minutes before they officially became husband and wife.

In typical Austin fashion, the laid-back, sweet, personal ceremony began once Bryce and Collin returned from being lost in the woods, and thankfully not at 5:00 on the dot.  Our Uncle Larry officiated the wedding, Leah and Matt recited personal vows that had us all tearing up, and after the ceremony we all had the opportunity to toast the new couple.  

After the ceremony, Maya's chipmunk cheeks were still stuffed with goldfish.  She's not great at sitting calm and quietly, and we were feeding her goldfish by the handful to keep her from causing too much of a disruption in Leah and Matt's sweet ceremony.

This dress from Aunt Anisja and Uncle Victor was a hit at the wedding, earning her countless compliments.  She was happy to pose for and with us in her beautiful gown - 

She's such a happy girl!

Maya loved spending time with Uncle Bobby and chalking for the first time.  

I let her finger paint a picture for Father's Day, but of course she tried to eat the finger paint.  So I didn't think she was ready for art yet, but she seemed to really enjoy the chalk, and only had a few telltale signs of trying a nibble near her lips -

Aunt Debbie and Collin with bubble wand in hand.  Chalk, bubbles, a band and garden trails - the kids at the wedding were happily entertained!

Busting a move while Maya sat and bounced to the beat -

We got one forced family shot before dinner, but my kids were spending so much time with family we hardly had both of them with us at the same time the whole evening -

Only a grandma would go on a LONG hike in June in Texas in a nice dress and heels and come back with eight sticks!  

Our family at the wedding -

Brownie made sure Maya was well-fed while the rest of us feasted

Maya giggling at Grammy and playing peek-a-boo while we listened to toasts -

The wedding wrapped up with a surprise flash mob dance to the bride and groom to "We are Family" which we had been practicing in the week leading up to the wedding.  Cas said it was better than the train wreck he expected the dance to be.  Then my wonderful parents took my kids to their hotel suite, while Cas and I got to live like young Austinites.  We joined the wedding party, jumping into the freezing and refreshing Barton Springs, and then headed to grab a drink with the family, spending the night telling funny cousin stories.  We had a great time, and the best part was, Saturday was just the start of a four day vacation we got to spend with my brother, sister-in-law, and parents.