HAPPY 4th of JULY EVERYONE!!

First and foremost, a HUGE thank you to the men and women of our armed services, both past and present! Without you, we couldn't celebrate our freedom and independence! God bless you, and God bless America!

We celebrated the 4th of July by hanging out with our neighbors across the street! The kids all got to play together and then we set off some "illegal" fireworks! Some of our neighbors down the street set some off, too, so it was wonderful to not have to go anywhere to see fireworks! We sat in our neighbor's driveway and took it all in! This was the first time Kenden's ever seen fireworks, and he truly enjoyed them and was not afraid at all....we had such a great time!

Our First Family Trip to Sandbridge Beach on the 4th of July!

As Virginia Beach residents, I am ashamed to say that this is the first family beach trip we've made to Sandbridge Beach this summer! It got off to a rocky start...Kenden was very whiny, as he is fighting off a cold and not sleeping well, so he was tired and not in the mood and was begging to go home. But, as the time wore on, he loosened up, and we ended up having a wonderful day! My favorite part of the day was sitting in the wet sand with him at the edge of the ocean, and building "Sand Mountain"!









The beach is a perfect place to play with MONSTER TRUCKS!!





Building "Sand Mountain" with Mommy in the wonderful ocean water!

Enjoying his Sailboat Sandbox, and Doing Some More Swinging!

Grammie and Papa gave Kenden this adorable Sailboat Sandbox about 2 Christmases ago, and I am embarrassed to admit that we just got around to setting it up on July 2 when the Swing Set was delivered! We have a plan for that little corner of our backyard though, and when it is done, it will be a wonderful place for Kenden's imagination to run wild! Here he is, having some fun in his new sandbox this morning!






Having some fun with mommy out out on the swing set!

What's Summer Without a Popsicle!?

Kenden LOVES his purple popsicles! Would it be officially summer without some good ole' popsicles!? Check out the last "action" shot of the leftover juice trickling out of his mouth! YUMMY!

Kenden's New "Park"!

Jeff and I have been looking for a swing set for Kenden for about 3 or 4 months now. We were really trying to avoid paying full price for one, as they can be pretty pricey! I kept an eye on Craigs List, and lo and behold, I ran across one one day for a VERY affordable price! I contacted the woman immediately, and told her we'd like to come see it the next morning before Jeff flew out of town for business. Since we were the first to contact her and offer to come see it, we got "first dibs" and the rest, as they say, is history!

Our landscaping guys went to pick it up and bring it here, and they set it up while Kenden napped. When he woke up and saw it in the backyard, he ran to me and said, "Mommy! I saw my new park in the backyard and it is fascinating!" It was priceless...and what a vocabulary from my 3.5 year old!

Kenden's New Swing Set...or as he calls it, the "Park"!




Slidin' and Swingin'!