Extended 4th of July Holiday

Back in June my brother Steven and his beautiful wife Rachel came out to Texas to visit my parents. Rachel was in the middle of swim lessons, but as soon as she finished her last lesson we headed up to spend the last couple days of their visit with them. I was really bad about taking pictures, which I'm kicking myself about now. But you see June was my worst month with this pregnancy. So, I was surviving... And it was nice to go up and be spoiled by my parents. Andy wasn't able to join us until a week later due to some training days at work. So, the girls and I enjoyed Steven and Rachel for a few days.

The highlight of our time with them was the girls playing on their phones or Steven's new iPad 2. I guess in California they couldn't keep the iPads on the shelf. In Texas Steven was able to walk right into Sam's Club and buy one. So, the girls enjoyed playing games on their fancy devices. Here's one picture I did grab - Steven on his iPad and Audrey's on his phone:

We spent Friday through Monday with Steven and Rachel. Tuesday they had to head home and we spent a few quiet days. Then Andy drove up Thursday night and joined us for the 4th of July weekend. We enjoyed some classics while visiting my parents - tractor rides, swinging in the swing, Chuck E. Cheese, fishing, boating, playing with minnows (Audrey even got so she was kissing them - gross!), enjoying lots of good food, and playing games in the evenings. We did add a new tradition - a slip 'n slide. The girls loved it! And my parents have quite a few hills on their property, so it worked out well.

Playing with the minnows while Daddy and Papa attempt fishing (no luck this trip with catching anything):

Love this picture! All ready for a boat ride:

Can you tell it's hot??? Rachel's face is just a little red...

Fourth of July evening:

On the 4th of July we enjoyed a barbecue. We had stocked up on quite a few different fireworks. The girls are still talking about some that scared them to death (namely. the ladybugs). Audrey spent most of the evening inside with Papa. Although she did enjoy doing sparklers... Rachel enjoyed the show for the most part. It's always fun to spend the 4th at my parents. The next day we drove home. Andy even drove the girls the whole way home and I got to enjoy some solitude as I drove his car home. He's a pretty nice guy! It was hard to adjust back to life after being spoiled for 12 days, but luckily we had other things coming up later in the summer to look forward to!