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. 

First Time to Disneyland

Eric and I went to Disneyland a couple months ago and when we heard his mom was coming to California we decided to tag along--all five of us. Kinsey made us promise we wouldn't go to Disneyland again without her. But in all fairness, I asked a million times if she wanted to come with us and she always said no.

We arrived around the time the park opened because, hey, we have kids and are awake anyway. They were all ready to go in their strollers. Kinsey had her autograph book and the twins had their pacis attached to a string (my genius idea). 

Each adult was unofficially assigned a child at all times since we had a 1:1 ratio. It worked out pretty well. When one kiddo would go to a different adult then we would just grab the one closest to us. 

They spotted Chip 'n Dale!

The first stop was meeting Chip 'n Dale on main street. The kids were a little unsure what was going on. I think all the characters in general creeped Shayla out. Kinsey liked most of them, though I don't think she had any idea who Chip 'n Dale were. But she got their autograph anyway!

We headed to Fantasyland, stopping to take a few pictures in front of the castle. It was all decked out for Disneyland's 60th Anniversary. 

No time for posing. The kids were ready to have some fun. 

After a couple "scary" rides in Fantasyland (because most rides at Disneyland are creepy for a 2 year old) we hit up this kid pleaser!! All three of them loved the Cinderella Carousel. 

The lines weren't too bad and when they got a little long Kinsey found a way to entertain herself. 

She was so happy Daddy took off work to come with us! Of course Eric said if we went without him he would just happen to be there the same day. 

Another one Kinsey loved was Dumbo the Flying Elephant. I wanted to move the lever up and down but Little K just wanted to be as high in the sky as possible. 

Shayla had a blast on Dumbo with Grandma and Scarlett was with Daddy. 

Maybe it's time to show Kinsey who Dumbo actually is? 

Then we spotted Ariel!! This was the only princess Kinsey was able to meet up close and it was her favorite autograph. Probably because Ariel is a princess and all that jazz. 

Grandma actually recognized Ariel from when she lived in Utah once upon a time!! 

Scarlett had to keep an eye on Hook to make sure there was no funny business going on. I'd be a little worried too. I was actually surprised Shayla looked away from him for the picture. 

The twins entertained themselves in lines too. Whether it was pulling on chains...

or climbing gates. 

After a boat ride we headed to a character breakfast to get more autographs and pictures!! We had no idea a parade was about to start so most of the good characters were in the parade. Oh well. We got some classic reactions from the girls. With each character Scarlett and Shayla just stared up at them like, "What the heck are you doing right here?" 

Rafiki was a little scary. Even Kinsey was unsure about him. 

Kinsey loved most of the characters. After warming up a bit, Scarlett started kissing them!! So stinkin' cute. And Shayla remained freaked out by them. I love how different their personalities are. 

Scarlett kissing Eeyore. 

Kinsey was so so SO excited to finally meet Minnie Mouse!! She was floating on cloud nine afterward. 

See? She seriously had such a good time. I wish we could have gone for more than a day. 

Shortly after our early lunch the babies passed out. Grandma found some AC for them while Eric and I took Kinsey on another ride.

After nap time at the house, which the twins didn't sleep for because of their stroller nap, we headed back to Disneyland! All three girls were mesmerized by the Tiki Room. Then we went on Pirates of the Caribbean which Kinsey covered her eyes until the "yo ho yo ho" song started up. She recognized it from Eric singing it to her and joined in. She still remained a little freaked out so we decided to take her on the Winnie the Pooh ride next. She LOVED it so much she wanted to get back in line for another round. 

Then we went on Kinsey's other favorite ride: It's a Small World.

Selfie in line for "It's a Small World"

Eric prepped Kinsey with this song too and she was loving the ride. She told me this and Winnie the Pooh were her favorites. 

Kinsey and I on "It's a Small World"

The twins were getting tired so I decided to take them home to get some sleep. Eric stayed with Kinsey and they watched the big parade and firework show, which people were saving seats 4 hours early for!! It was an awesome show because of the 60th anniversary. Eric said Kinsey had so much fun watching all the floats and the princesses. She was in heaven. 

I'm not big on seeing the shows, but I'm kind of sad I didn't after hearing Eric rave about it. Oh well. Sacrifices must be made as a mom!! 

We had such a good trip. As long as you're organized it's not too bad taking young kids. I'm actually okay with going every year now, which Eric is thrilled about but he insists we fly next time. The girls were even great in the car. We're so glad we could steal Grandma away and go on a mini vacation to California.