July 4th

ISO 100,  f2.8,  SS 1/200
Edited with Florabella "Clean Color" (55%) & "Smitten" (63%) 

This is the above picture before I did any editing -
straight out of the camera (SOOC)
I had to include it because Xandra's eyes just blew me away.

We went to our town's 4th of July parade.

Yep, we braved the insane heat to sit on a curb & watch a parade.

Daddy walked in it, since he's a council member. 

But mostly, the kids were just thrilled to grab all the candy that was thrown out!

Can't you see the enthusiasm on their faces?!!
They were thrilled, I tell ya!!

Ok. Maybe "thrilled" is too strong a word.
We were so HOT!!
And to top it off, we totally missed seeing Matt!
Boo!

In the evening we went to Papa's house for a cookout.

We celebrated with bubbles this year.

Though it didn't last too long.

It was just too hot! 

All told, it was a good holiday, even without the fireworks.

I hope we get to see them next year. 

We haven't been up to much around here lately. 

Again - the weather.

It's really hindered our activities.

The kiddos officially started swim lessons yesterday.

They did better than I thought they would, but they each need to learn to trust their instructor a bit more. 

Hopefully, it will be even better next week.

I'm going to try to get some pictures of them in the next couple weeks.

I had to include this last picture, even though it has nothing to do with the 4th.
I took it this morning while the kids were wrestling with daddy, after church.
I love the joy!

Hope everyone has a great week!!