We had a great 4th of July!

We had such a fun 4th of July week!   My 2 sisters both came into town and me and the boys went and stayed the whole week at Mom and Dad's too (my other sister was there for some, but then had to go to girl's camp).  Kendall was there for the weekend and then had to head to work.  There are 13 kids between us and another 5 when Joe and his fam were with us.  All the meals were huge and things got crazy at times.  The "bigger kids" (ages 4 and up) all slept in sleeping bags in the basement family room.  Littler kids were in a room with their moms.  I love having my kids spend time with their cousins.  They had hours and hours and days and days of fun and memories! Nothing beats that.  The kids all behaved really well, too.  There wasn't a whole lot of fighting or tattling or crying.  They all just played and had fun, for the most part.  We did lots of fun things throughout the week.  Wanna see?

There was singing.

And homemade root beer making.

And trampoline jumping. 

And porch swing swinging. 

 And all kinds of silliness. Like piggy back ride giving. 

And some much needed napping.

 

And i-phone and i-padding. 

 And swimming at the hotel pool where Mom and Dad were escaping for a night.

 And, of course, fireworks!

Lea was only a week or 2 old when Betsy made the trip down. 

 And marshmallow roasting on the gas stove.

And Grandpa giving funny quicksand rides.  The kids were lined up doing this over and over again. 

We also had a picnic at the park and played baseball for hours.  Mom also let the kids make their own little boxes out of Altoid tins and her polymer clay.  Dad brought home a projector and the kids got to watch a movie on the wall in the basement.  We played in the water at Bridal Veil Falls one morning as well.  

What a week!

Another great part of the week....while we were away playing, Kendall kept the house clean and opened it for a few realtors to show it.  That's when we got the offer! So glad we could be gone for that. :)