Highlands: the 4th of July

ok. so only 2 more highlands posts to go!

we chose the 4th of july weekend for several reasons, one of which was the small town 4th of july celebrations!

we started the morning with a trip to the creek (again) with just Addie, Paul and me. she had so much fun (again) jumping around and playing with just us; and i got to grab a few of these flower shots! we {forgot} to bring her a change of clothes, so we just stripped her down and put her in her carseat wrapped in a towel!

after showers and little girl morning naps, we headed to see the birds of prey from the Balsam Mountain Trust Nature Center. Addie was mesmerized, but the little girls not so much. so paul strolled them around until we all piled in the car and drove {more than} a few blocks to the 4th of July picnic. there was a fire truck with the ladder fully extended that spewed water from the fire hose all over the field for the kids to run and play in at the end of the picnic after the medical helicopter took off and did a fly over!

but before all of that, addie jumped inside the firetruck and didn't want anyone else to get in!

so we pulled her out and grabbed some lunch with Nana, Rie Rie, Gramma, Daddy, and the baby sisters.

picture attempt of all 3 girls #1:

picture attempt of all 3 girls #2:

perfect picture: fail.

perfect memory: success!

there were so many things to watch!

 

i love how very different yet so similar these little girls are.

then it started to rain right before the helicopter took off, so paul loaded up the babies while Addie and I stood and watched it take off and do a fly over. wow! (sorry, no pictures. the camera was staying dry in the car too!).

then we headed home for naps.

after naps, gramma and papa al came over with the yummiest home smoked pulled pork bbq ever, and we had delicious cold salads and grilled corn on the cob and divine peach/blueberry cobbler and ice cream made by my aunt/nana. then a few of us and Addie went to hear the patriotic program (complete with a bagpipe) at the local church but headed home early to wait for the fireworks.

we put the (completely exhausted) little girls to bed and watched the fireworks with an excited Addie, who's emotions ranged from utter amazement to complete bury-your-head-cover-your-ears fear! it was sprinkling again, so i didn't take a single fireworks picture either {sad!}.

barring the limited number of pictures i took, it was a wonderful day of celebrating our country and the men and women fighting for our freedom, all while being surrounded by wonderful family!