The Fourth of July Post

Going back in time here :) Our family had a great little fourth of July right here in Mesa! It started out on Friday morning, bright and early, with my brother's Eagle Scout project. Really, it was just Jared who went to help out, but he enjoyed helping Stephen complete a huge accomplishment!

Jared went on some errands afterwards only to have our car overheat on him. That almost ruined the day because we had plans to go to a cool water park with the Mantanonas...thankfully we were able to borrow a car from Jared's family and managed the trek down to Mesquite Groves water park in Chandler. I brought my camara, but it was way too much work to watch all three kids-there was no time to snap some pictures. They don't allow floaties in this pool, and although the water was only 3 feet deep at the deepest, I still worried! The kids did great though, i was so impressed with how free they were in the water!

This water park, by the by, is amazing, SO perfectly suited for little kids with a climber in the middle of the kid pool, a lazy river nearby, and a beach entry (amongst other adult stuff). We really enjoyed hanging out with the Mantanonas. We also enjoyed the reminder of how much we loved living out in Chandler! The scenery is beautiful and the clouds roll in so quickly without introducing much, if any, rain. Of course, the clouds had to prove me wrong and a good storm started up, haboob and all (is that how you spell it?) Luckily, we had pulled the kids out of the pool to eat a picnic dinner right before the lifeguards pulled the plug, so we just chalked it up to good timing! I'm dying to go back, and this time I think I'll have the wits to manage the kids and take a few pictures!

The 4th was a great day too! We started it off at our ward's 4th of July party, and it was awesome! One of the best ward parties we have been too, it has amazed Jared and I to see how effortless organization is in this ward. We had a great breakfast with Grandma Erickson and listened to various speakers talk about the flag, national history, and do the color guard. I was impressed with myself that I knew a lot of the answers to the history "pop quiz"-I won 3 pieces of candy! Woo hoo! I think JD and Jordan got a little bored because they laid on the floor to play with toys. Jordan watched JD intently for a few minutes and then worked hard to get his body in the same position as JD's. Cuteness!

The primary kids sang a few patriotic songs, which is always a parent pleaser! Games followed and it was fun to see Karianna join in the hula hoop contest, the bubble blowing contest, and the 3 legged race with Jared. We figured out pretty quick that Karianna hates to lose, which made for an interesting reaction to the fact that she really can't blow a bubble or hula hoop yet-and even with Jared as her 3 legged race partner, you just can't outrun those senior primary kids! She didn't want to do the jello eating contest becuase she thought she would get dirty and that was unacceptable. We sure did have a lot of fun with Grandma Erickson and with the kiddos!

After having a swim-munchie party at our house we headed to see fireworks at Cooly Park in Mesa with my side of the fam. The fireworks only lasted about 20 minutes, but it was a good show nonetheless topped off with salt water taffy. All the cousins loved running around together with their glowsticks, glownecklaces, glowbracelets-all kinds of "glow" paraphanalia! Once the fireworks started, they were pretty intrigued; Jordan is a true daddy's boy in that Jared wants fireworks at his funeral (a long time from now), and I am willing to bet Jordan will ask for the same thing (an even longer time from now). Karianna hung out with Kaitlynn for most of the fireworks and JD decided to add his own air freshener to the atmosphere...I changed him, in the dark, on my lap, about 2 minutes before the fireworks ended. Darn that peer pressure of family members plugging their noses!

Regardless, we really enjoyed the fireworks, the relaxation factor, and hangng out with family!