4th of July--a little late

I'm finally getting around to doing my 4th of July post. Actually, my sisters-in-law beat me to it, so a lot of the pictures I have are repeats--and I probably should do what they do, and combine a lot of pictures into one (so that my posts wouldn't take such a long time). But I think I do have some pictures that are different, and besides, this is my blog, so I can repeat other blogs if I want, right? Just so you know, I took about 700 pictures on the 4th of July, so you can't complain too much about all the pictures I have here. At least I didn't put them all on! :)

The day started really early with a visit to the balloon fest. I've wanted to go in year's past, but I could never get myself to get up early enough. It was really early, but so worth it. We met Seth and Karla and Dave and Melissa and the kids there, and I loved watching the balloons get blown up, and be in the midsts of all of them, and then see them all launch into the sky. And I loved getting to watch the kids and how much they loved it. Here are some pictures:

I didn't get much done the rest of the day--trying to recover from getting up so early! But the evening was so fun. I love our tradition of having a barbeque at Mom and Dad's house with water toys. Everyone came this time except Steve and Chelle. Hopefully we can get them there next year! This time, the barbeque started out with a water fight between Grandpa and the kids. It was so fun to watch! Here are some pictures:

This last picture is the victors showing off their water guns. So cute!

After the barbeque, it was time for the 2nd annual "Southern Family Not So Special Olympics." Dan and Ems started this tradition last year, and it was so fun, we decided to do it again. Each family is a team, and the rules are that every family has to involve each member of their family in something, and then Jan and I are alternates to help out. (Hopefully one of these days I'll have my own family to participate...) It was so fun. Here are pictures and descriptions:

It started out with the three legged race. So cute to see everyone tied together!

Then the sack races--we used garbage sacks.

Then the hotly contested wheelbarrow race. We have some competition in our family...

Then the balloon toss.
It ended up between the last four--Dan and Ems, Dave and Mel, Jon and Holly, and Mike and Janelle. It was fun to watch them get farther and farther away. Finally it was Dan and Em and Mike and Janelle, and Dan was tossing his balloon while he waited, and dropped it. Mike and Janelle had to make one final toss, and they made it, so they were the winners!

Then the pie eating contest--each team of two had to eat 1/4 a pie. Everyone was pretty sick afterwards! Jan and Emilee won this one.

And finally, my favorite--the obstacle course. It started out with going under the hoops...

Then up and down the play set....

Then up and down the inflatable slide (love this slide--it's so fun!)

Then bowling--you had to get all the pins down to not get a penalty....

Then around the cones and through the tires (not shown), and then around the swimming pools...

And either over or under the...hmm, what's it called...limbo stick?

Then I didn't get a picture, but after this you had to tag Dad, who was timing it.


And here are the final results. It looks like it was a tie between Mike's family and Emilee's family!

And finally, we had our family fireworks. We've been doing this for years, and I always love it. Dad used to do the lighting, with help from the boys. Now the boys have taken on the responsibility, and do at least three at a time. I'll end this post with these pictures! Happy 4th of July! We had a great day!