4th of July

This year we went to my parent's cabin for the 4th of July.  Aaron was only there through the 5th, but I was able to stay for the entire week up there with the kids (so we were there from the 1st through the 10th!).  I hadn't been at my cabin for a full week at once since I was probably in middle school - so I was SO excited to be there for that long and not have to worry about work!  It's about a 3 hour drive from Rochester.

Lots of pictures, so I'll separate it into a few posts...we'll start with 4th of July weekend :) Most of the weekend we just hung out by the lake, and Aaron's tiki :) Aaron was so excited to build this for my parent's cabin...it's been talked about for about 2 or 3 years now so his goal was to have it finished by the 4th!  It was a hit - my dad was inviting neighbors down to have  a drink by his tiki and at one point we had quite a crowd, which is not normal for us Tarara's, so it was a nice change!

Aaron brought the lights for it and after this picture, we also had actual tiki torches put on this as well.  He did an awesome job - it is "collapsable" so easy for storage too.

The kiddos hung out a lot up by the tiki bar...it was right by the kiddy pool and our swingset that we have up there...which is Addy's favorite thing to do, so you couldn't get her too far from there some days!  Blaker hung out in his walker, or on a blanket for the most part!

Things Addy probably loves about being at 'the cabin' (or at 'camp' when she's in MI): she can get pretty dirty and I don't force her into a tub all the time...she gets to go outside in her jammies and play/run around...and she gets to stay up way past her normal bedtime!


Yeah, that's a face full of tasty goodies and a head full of greasy sunscreen!!



Learning the proper way to hold a bat in her jammies. :)

The boat parade at our cabin and fireworks were on Sunday the 3rd.  Addy sat with my dad for a little bit and drove the pontoon during the parade.  But things got ugly quick when we started getting in water wars with others in their boats!!!  The parade became a cluster of boats.  Addy and a few others on our pontoon were not so fond of the water flying at them (in the form of water balloons!)...so she spent the remainder of the parade after about 10 minutes of "driving" tucked under her towel on my lap (and fell asleep!). The little ones on the ground were not fond of the water fight either, LOL!!

That night my mom stayed at the cabin with Blake and Addy (who were sleeping) and Aaron & I got to go on the pontoon with the others for the fireworks.  It is so cool to watch them on the lake...not sure what it is that makes it seem more festive :)  There was a TON of boats on the lake too, seriously I think hundreds, but I might be exaggerating.  It was a great atmosphere.

The only picture of Aaron and I all weekend (together): cuddling with our adorable niece Brooklynn who was getting sorta sleepy by the end of the fireworks!

The day of the 4th was just a relaxing, sunny day on the lake!  The kids had made fun fireworks shirts for the holiday at their daycare.  They turned out pretty cute! You can sort've see that they were red, white, and blue fireworks in this picture:

But, I had also already gotten them some festive outfits (of course...I would be that mom!)...so after naptime I had them change to get use out of their other adorable festive outfits too.  Ha ha!

And this picture here....I think sums up what everyone should want to be doing on the 4th of July...whether you are 2, 22, or 102...who doesn't want to be relaxing pool-side on the 4th with your favorite beverage???