July Fourth Fun

After Hannah's spring dance recital, I decided I needed to start posting pictures on the blog again.  So that night, I diligently sat down and put up the pictures of the recital.  That night, our hard drive crashed, and all of our pictures from January to the end of June are gone.  It makes me so sad!  I've learned two things: BACK UP EVERYTHING!!!!  And to spend less time taking pictures and more time making memories.  I rely on my pictures to be my memories, and I need to imprint our lives more on my mind than in pixels.

All that said, as part of my obsessive back up plan (along with our new computer, we got one of those external hard drives that automatically backs up every time a new file is added), I've rededicated myself to posting pictures on the blog.  It took me a few weeks to be able to take new pictures, and then a few more weeks to download them from my camera. 

And now, at last, here are some for you to see.  These are from July 4th, when we went to the Chicago suburbs to visit Jonathan's family.  Hannah and Lydia were very excited to spend the holiday with their cousin Brady.  We might be a little girly for him, but I think he had fun too.

After the parade, we went back to Jonathan's parents' house, where the kids spent a happy afternoon playing with a bubble gun.  Have you seen those?  It's like a water gun, but it sprays out bubbles, powered by a motor.  Even Lydia could produce amazing amounts of bubbles.  Serious fun!

 

 

I tried to get the kids to pose.  After about 30 shots with variations of this...

...I finally got one where they looked like this.

 

 

And then, this one.  Aren't they the cutest ever?

 

That night, we saw the fireworks...the first time for both girls.  I'm not sure that they loved the whole thing, but it was definitely memorable.

Also over the holiday, after a night of camping in the yard with Opa and Grandma, everyone had a blast in the kiddie pool.

 I gave the kids ice cream and told them to sit still for (yet another) picture.  Guess who said he doesn't like ice cream, but I convinced him to hold one anyway?  "You don't have to eat it, Brady, just hold it for a minute while I take your picture."  Turns out, he's the only one not stuffing his face...oh well!