The Fourth with Family

On the morning of the fourth we packed up and loaded up and headed over to my sisters house. It is about a 3 hour drive- plus a stop at the outlet mall half way =). we made it there just after lunch and hung out before my brother Brandon and his family came over along with my grandparents. I love to get to watch the kids play with their older cousins, it is a rare occasion. We enjoyed the food and the company and as you can see a lot of these pictures are just hanging out and relaxing.

The kids swinging- minus Bennett, who was too busy here....

My nephew Dean, two months younger than Bennett- I really thing he was ready to crank that thing up and go!!

Khylie pushing Hannah Grace- they as usual hit it off pretty quick. Khylie is a year older. Brandon and Amy are also expecting their third- and she is due in December, so we will have two more really close. I feel like Amy and I are always pregnant together- and always pregnant pretty much every time we see each other, ha!

Starting to test out the sparklers.

Ella Jane- what a cutie pie. She just turned 5.
The kids oldest cousin Tyler. At 15, he is closer to my age than he is to theirs- I was only 8 when he was born- and he is the best big brother and cousin a kid could ask for.

Daddy introducing them to the world of sparklers.

Bennett again, wasn't so sure.

Hannah Grace was pretty fascinated.

Hangin' with my B.

We also celebrated my grandpa's 80th birthday.

Singing to the birthday boy.

Eating some ice cream.

Most of my family thinks we are crazy, but Ryan and I think Dean and Bennett actually have a strong resemblance. It may just be the big dark eyes and their little "boyliness".

Just hanging out and Dean trying to get Brandon's beer, of course.

Despite how it looks in this picture, Hannah is not scared of her oldest girl cousin, Sydney who is now 7!!! She always takes the kids under her wing the second we walk in.

And we wrapped up the evening with some good old shootin' hoops. These pictures are blurry especially because it was actually getting really dark, but you get the idea. It was pretty cute!

So there ya have it- yep, believe it or not, that's a wrap! Thanks for hanging in there! We enjoyed our last evening in Illinois and headed out after breakfast on Sunday morning. We had a wonderfully uneventful drive back and we as always had mixed emotions about being home- it wouldn't be so hard if we didn't know that it will be next year before we make the trip again, most likely. But we were thankful to get to see everyone none the less, and as hopefully you could see, we had a great time!!! Next year will be interesting with three- hopefully we won't lose Hannah Grace the back seat after we're all packed, ha! It will be fun to introduce Sadie to the world of ponies, pools, and pitter pattering lil' punkins' on patios.