Halfway through Summer

I love the 4th of July, but I don't love that it marks the halfway point of our summer vacation.  We decided to make a quick trip to Memphis to celebrate Alivia and Grandma's birthdays.  It was short, but oh so sweet.

They basically stayed in the pool the entire time we were there.  Here are the cousins in order of oldest to youngest... Alexis (8th grade), Aleaha (6th grade), Haley (Melanie's niece on Jay's side), Alivia (3rd grade), Alaina and Elizabeth (1st grade), and Caroline (pre-K).

They loved having a diving board

bath time in Grandma's jacuzzi tub

I posted this picture to my mom's facebook wall on her birthday.  Happy birthday Mom!
We came back right before mom's birthday because we needed to be in Atlanta in time for the holiday festivities!

On Friday, July 3rd, we took the girls down to the Peachtree Road Race expo.  It was a lot of fun and so much for the kids to do especially since it was raining.

At lunch time on Friday, we picked the twins (Lola and Vivian) up because their parents were working.  I had a few things I needed to get for our party that night, so I took all 4 kids to Publix.   I must be really brave!  Or crazy?!

The church across from our neighborhood does the big fireworks each year.  Our friend's the Cochrans hosted us all at their house which is very close to our clubhouse.  So we cooked out and played at their house before going to see the fireworks.  The kids and the adults had so much fun.  Bentley and Elizabeth kept saying, "This is the best night ever!"

Caroline kept insisting that she liked the fireworks.  I didn't really believe her.  She kept her ears plugged the entire time.  

Riley, Elizabeth, Bentley, Izzy, and Caroline watching the encore.

Running the Peachtree Road Race has become our traditional way to start the 4th of July.  I love it.  Especially when we do it with friends!  It was storming pretty bad when we started.  They actually delayed it for lightening but since we were stuck outside (no safer than running), we decided to just keep running (along with most other people).  We were soaked but it was an awesome run.  My headphones wouldn't work in the rain so I did the entire thing with no music, but I was still able to run the whole way without ever stopping.  Last year I walked a couple of time (once up "cardiac hill").  I'll take running in the rain any day over 90-100 degree heat.

On Saturday night we did our own sparklers and fireworks.
It was a fantastic weekend.  I was reminded once again of how blessed we truly are!!