red, white and blue

yesterday we celebrated the fourth of july and felt proud to live in the usa. we remembered the importance of our country and how wonderful it is to be an american as we sported our red, white and blue colors, gathered with our town at the morning parade and evening fireworks, and spent the day soaking in some serious family time. what a day to be patriotic and appreciative of all the goodness that surrounds us. samantha had a blast, man do I LOVE holidays.......

as we waited for the parade to start downtown we played on the big playground at cambier park. it was a nice break from the hot and humid temperatures as she played under the cover in the tunnels, climbing up the steps and ladders and being silly. it was so much fun to watch her explore and play. can't get enough of her all dressed for the holiday. 
we remembered our fourth of july pinwheel.....
weeeeeeee.........
wondering if it could get any hotter....seriously in the 100s maybe? yikes!
laughing as her daddy plays with her, she loves it that he is really just a BIG kid....
feeling pretty sweaty...whew. she enjoyed the parade and people watching until she got scared when the rifles went off in front of her. flashbacks to when we came last year and she was only two months old and she slept right through the loud parade.
from the parade we headed to eric and lita's house for a backyard picnic. delicious bbq ribs and chicken..... swimming, corn hole, a quick nap for samantha in her mimi's arms...what a special day to all be together. ps. the vanilla bourbon cupcakes i made were sweet and scrumptious, if i say so myself. hehee
hanging out...oh and the sangria lita made was deliciouso....
babies in the pool...sammy having fun with her grammy and tio eric and primo rylan
deciding to chill out indoors for a little with baby rylan as the boys play cornhole outside
what a relaxing afternoon.....
next we were headed home for a quick shower, drop off cole and then onto my aunt linda's for dinner. (and yes we were hungry, i don't know how, ha) samantha spent the day napping in the car between events and was a real trooper.
trying potato salad for the first time with aunt nancy....
having just the best time ever with her cousins, briana and kaitlen...and what did they bring to play with but samantha's favorite....babydolls! 
so at last we made it to my favorite fourth of july tradition...watching fireworks on the beach. its packed, its hot, we're tired, it was a lot of walking (especially when you forget the stroller, oops)...but it was the best way to end our patriotic day. i can't remember a summer that i wasn't a few blocks from the pier watching as the fireworks lit up the sky above. samantha was cuddly and quiet as she sat with her blankie, passed from one family member's lap to another. she didn't want to play in the sand or walk around to explore, she just wanted to relax and cuddle up. it was the best. our family all there...glad to see blake and all his high school buddies, glad eric and lita came with the little rylan for the first time and glad that we were all together. that is what makes me the happiest. samantha clapped at different fireworks and pointed and sat back to take it all in. what a moment. 

watching the waves with her uncle blake....she just loves him!
fireworks..uhh tried to take a few pics that didn't look like something squiggly in the ocean
watching the fireworks with pop pop