Happy 4th of July!

We had a WONDERFUL 4th of July weekend filled with hot air balloons, parades, BBQs, and fireworks. And my personal favorite--matching outfits!! Forgive the picture overload but I get excited when we match. And what else would I do with my pictures if they don't go on my blog?

We began the morning by heading out to the Freedom Festival Parade. I'm not a huge parade person but I wanted to get our family traditions started, so off we went!! 

Kinsey was ready to go with her packed backpack and flag. 

 I swear, when Grandma Walker is around my kids don't even like me. They were just hanging out with everyone but me (mostly). If it weren't so nice getting a break once in awhile I would be a little offended. 

I think the best part for the kids was hanging out with their cousins. Kinsey and Christian are two peas in a pod. These two love playing together!

 Of course there was also the actual parade. A few floats were cool but if you ask Kinsey if she liked the parade she would say: "Yeah. Kinda boring." Love that girl!! Shayla, on the other hand, was rocking out to the marching bands. Scarlett got a little into dancing too, but not like Shayla. Shayla was having the time of her life when she heard the beat of the drums. 

 We spent dinner at my mom's house the night before, so after nap time we headed to Grandma and Papa Walker's house. 

I can't miss out on an opportunity for a twin pic!

 We had some yummy BBQ hotdogs and chicken and lots of other great food to eat. Kinsey was able to spend a little time with her great grandma who she calls "Big Grandma." I just love this picture of the two of them. 

We whipped out the bounce house so the kids could play for a bit. The five of them play so well together and are going to be great friends growing up. One of the reasons we moved back to Utah was so they could grow up with some of their cousins. 

It is so hard to get these three to sit still long enough to take a picture. Don't even THINK about trying to get them all to smile at once. I can't believe how big my babies are getting. Scarlett almost looks as big as Kinsey in this pic!! 

 I told Scarlett and Shayla to hold hands and they did!! So freakin' cute. I'm obsessed with my girls. 

 The kids threw some Poppers. Kinsey had to stomp on a lot of them because she didn't throw them hard enough to break. 

Then Kinsey taught Scarlett how to stomp on them...

 and like a good little sister she listened. 

Kinsey, Christian, and Grant decided to sit on the curb and throw Poppers by themselves. No one told them to. I guess they just wanted to be alone. 

 And then Kinsey took it upon herself to teach the boys how to drive her car. 

 The old, I mean young at heart, people observed the entertainment of the kids.

 

Grandma fed the girls some of her delicious red, white, and blue jello. Maybe this has something to do with why they love her so much...

Per Walker tradition, we started the fireworks off by catching parachutes. Kinsey caught the first one but I was a little late with the picture. Good job Kinsey!!

We tried to make sure everyone had a chance. 

 After the three oldest each caught a parachute, Christian made it a goal to catch them all. 

 But Kinsey managed to sneak a few catches in before she got bored. 

 

Then the boys (aka men) decided to have a little competition of their own. 

It didn't always end well...

Boys will be boys. 

I discovered something new. Shayla is a future pyro. Every time I turned around this girl found more fireworks to play with. 

I love how perfect this shot is with her dress blowing in the wind. 

Scarlett was just happy walking with Daddy. 

 And being silly with Grant. I think these two may be future BFFs. 

 

Ahhh!! Look how sweet my Scarly is!

 Shayla is a stinker. She found someone's cup of jello and ate the entire thing. When I approached her for a picture she would run away because she thought I was going to take away her jello. If she wasn't so cute I probably would have. 

 Look at these big girls!

 The sun doesn't go down until really late in Utah so we decided to get the firework show on the road. Everyone grabbed a seat and watched. 

 Can we just zoom in on these reactions? The three older kids were very impressed, but apparently it takes more than a few sparks to get a smile out of Scarlett and Shayla. 

But after a few more fireworks they decided to offer their applause. 

 Somehow we managed to get all the kids to sleep through the big fireworks. From our house we had a view of about ten different personal firework shows, including the Stadium of Fire. It was awesome.