We managed to
keep the kids occupied until the cousins arrived (thanks for the sweet words about the decorations too :) And once they arrived, the 4th pretty much revolved around water. And one day I know they'll be jumping off the garage roof into the pool. I am not naive ;)
Lots and lots of eating
Celebrating America's birthday, and Char-Char's.
With 12 cousins, we pretty much have a birthday every single month now.
And lots of fireworks.
Turns out there's one upside of having a dirt pit in our backyard still; perfect foundation for fireworks.
The littles just love sparklers. We're a big fireworks family.
Seriously, he asked the morning of the 4th if he could bring them. True story.
And because they didn't get enough water play yesterday...water balloons this morning.
We went through an entire bag. And this little attachment is just about the coolest little gizmo ever. You hook it onto your spout and the water balloon just slips right on, and then it has a pressure valve that you turn on and off. No stretching the balloon over the spout, to have half of them break or slip off and get you soaking wet. It came with a pack of water balloons a couple years back and we've got lots of use out of it! If you ever see one, pick it up, you'll love it!
Syd started a new trend of squeezing a water balloon on his head until it pops.
Whatever floats your boat I guess?
It's been some good times, but I am exhausted. Need to definitely slow it down next week. How was your 4th of July? Hoping it was wonderful :)
a roundup of 20 crafts you can do with the kids today to keep them busy till the fireworks come! 
a year later and these 4th of July mason jar luminaries are still a hit. Make them today with a couple of simple supplies you probably already have at home!
if you have some patience and some time (or you just want an excuse to be inside with the air conditioning), make these patriotic pinwheel inspired cookies!
