4th of July

 July is a good month. There's the 4th (which I love), there's our anniversary, and (if you live in Utah) there's Pioneer day. Pretty much there is a lot of food, a lot of fireworks, and a lot of family. Whats not to love?

For the 4th we went to good ol' Idaho Falls. I love the 4th of July in IF. It really is the best. From the parade to the fireworks they really put on a show. If you don't believe me, well, you should.  The weekend started out at Nic's parents house for a celebration of the June Birthdays. Food: Pizza, cake, and ice cream. Fireworks: none. Family: Lloyd, Gail, Lindsey and Shawn and crew, Ali and Chase, Nic and me and crew.

Mason and Abby.

If only that chub looked so good on everyone.

My mom's backyard. The backyard I spent much of my later childhood in. Food: Carrots for the horse. Fireworks: Still none. Family: Just us.

 Ah. The Parade. Mason loved the parade, and honestly who wouldn't? I'm pretty sure he came home with a pound of candy. Food: Donuts, candy, bagels. Fireworks: nada. Family: Nic's family sans Marci et. al., Jorden and Clay, and Ryan.

So patriotic.

Mason learned very quickly from the boys sitting next to us (Shawn's sister's kids) that he could yell "honk the horn" and semi-trucks would honk. So throughout the entire parade there was a constant, low and deep voice yelling "Honk da horn. Honk da horn." He was even saying it to bicyclists.

After the Parade we went to Nic's parents for the annual Pink's Hot Dog BBQ. Just like the famous Pinks, hot dogs can be ordered with a bazillion combination of whatever you want on them. I'm not a big hotdog fan, but cover it in guacamole, bacon and cheese and I can eat just about anything. I think the food, fireworks and family was pretty much covered in its entirety here.

The kids did some impromptu sprinkler time. I wish I had gotten a picture of Nic. He was the man of the day and played soccer, had Nerf gun battles, and set up sprinklers for all the kids. I think they kind of liked him.

 The fireworks. The Melaluca company in Idaho Falls puts on the fireworks and they really are the best in the area. They rival much bigger cities' shows and are always very well attended. In fact, I almost roller-bladed into Harrison Ford at the fireworks while Nic and I were dating. Unfortunately I didn't realize it until I skated away and Nic told me. I totally would have been one of those annoying fans and told him how my plan out of high school was to go to college and become Indiana Jones. True story. Food: Spray-able cheese and crackers and animal crackers courtesy of Lindsey. Fireworks: Tons and they were awesome. Family: Shawn, Lindsey, Chloe and Carson, Nic, me, and Mason. (Sage stayed home with Grandma KC.)

Lighting sparklers while waiting for the fireworks.

Some of the clan.

Pretty Chloe.

Carson

So excited.

For as long as I live I will never forget Mason's reaction to the fireworks. This was his first time actually seeing big fireworks like this and he went berserk. He was screaming, "Woo hoo! Yeah! Awesome! Explosion!" and he was literally jumping up and down. This picture caught the moment so well and might just be the awesomest picture ever.

Two very happy boys.

 After the 4th we headed up the cabin in Island Park. We 4-wheeled, we slept, we threw rocks in the creek (we threw lots of rocks in the creek). We also went up to the top of Sawtelle. I had never been up there and I don't really know why. You can see all of Island park with the Tetons in the background. Beautiful. (Though I didn't take any scenic pictures. hm.) Food: Great cabin junk food. Fireworks: Um...illegal in the forest. Family: My dad and Penni were able to join us for the first day, then it was just us for the next couple of days.

Throwing rocks. He could do this all day.

While we were at the cabin we decided to head into Yellowstone for the day. As always it was beautiful.

Waiting for Old Faithful.

This is outfit 1 of 3 of the day for Sage. There were some issues.

The Grand Canyon of Yellowstone. Hands down my favorite part of the park.

Mammoth Hot Springs. (Which one of these faces is not like the others?)

In the park we saw Bison, elk, deer, and three bears. One black, two grizzlies. This bear was hanging out right by the road and people (or rather complete idiots) were out of their cars within 20 yards of this thing taking its picture. The park ranger's hadn't shown up yet and I was feeling pretty annoyed at the ignorance of it all. I hope they all felt pretty dumb when they later heard that that very day a man was killed by a grizzly in the park. (It was actually very close to the Grand Canyon and at the same time we were there. Very sad story). I can kind of get on my soap box about this whole thing, but some people. Really.

To end on a positive note, however, the weekend was wonderful and I left feeling very blessed that I have such a wonderful family. I am one lucky lady.