4th of July

We had a great 4th of July weekend. The 3rd was spent playing some baseball. We all had a great time!

Elias is eating his snacks...this kid is ALWAYS eating!

Later that night while the rest of the family went to the drive in, Brian and I headed to the store to buy some new pool toys. Almeu loved this blow up Walrus...except they had recently seen the movie Water Horse so the Walrus was never known for his true identity but was always known as the Water Horse.We bought Elias a life jacket hoping it would help him be more comfortable in the water...nope, he still kept a death grip on me. Either way he had fun!The Water Horse died a few days later from a neck explosion after Almeu jumped into the pool with it...as seen here. RIP Water Horse.Israel wanted to try on a life jacket like Elias!After the pool Mom asked Alemu to put a scarf in her hair like an Ethiopian lady. This was her way to trick him into playing with her hair :) Alemu and Israel both tried but in the end Emily had to do it. When Mom asked if she looked like an Ethiopian, Alemu said, "no." Then Mom put on a "skirt" and "shawl." At this point Almeu laughed and said, "now you need a big stick." So he ran down the bank into the "jungle" behind the house to get a stick. Then he instructed her to walk hunched over like she was carrying something on her back. Alemu's "Ethiopian" mommy provided a lot of entertainment for the whole family!For dinner Elias REALLY enjoyed his first ribs. He sucked that bone clean!Later that evening we headed to the lake to watch the fireworks. Elias was super excited to be going for a walk at night.Israel and Elias were super hyper playing on the blanket we were sitting on. I couldn't believe my 11 month old was going at the same every level as an 8 year old after such a long day. I attribute it to the slurpee that his Auntie Em snuck him. Brian was a little nervous about how Elias would do with the fireworks. I didn't think he would be scared but I was thinking he would be bored and restless. Boy, were we both wrong. Elias snuggled with his Daddy, never even flinched at the loud noises, and sat mesmerized the entire show!Israel and Alemu thought it was pretty cool too! ...and that was the end of our 1st 4th of July as a family of 3!