The 4th of July

We were so fortunate to spend the Fourth of July with our good friends, the Hoppe's, again this year.  They invited us to go out on their boat with them on Prior Lake.  It was nearly the hottest day of the year and we had two (three including Alex) babies on board for the majority of the time.  We had so much fun, once again.  Being with the Hoppe's is always fun.  I think when you are younger and thinking about friendships, it's more of quantity rather than quality.  You know, how many people signed your yearbook or now...how many "friends" do you have on Facebook?  But, somewhere along the lines your friendships change and it is more about the quality of friendship.  Our friendship with the Hoppe's in "High Quality" guaranteed. 

Eva filled up water balloons and Alex dug right in! 

Now, normally, I would never tell Alex to bite the balloon to get it to pop.  But, after throwing it at different people, onto sharp objects and practically sitting on it and it still didn't pop...I gave him the "Go Ahead..."

He loved it!

The boat was parked in Cow Bay and the cows were hot too!

The most photogenic little girl, ever!

Attempting to tie up the boats.

We went for a nice little swim as a family.  Alex loved it and tried to go off on his own several times.  Imagine that, Mr. Independent.  Aiden, however, was not a fan.  He didn't last too long.

Maybe it was because when Daddy was reaching for a swim diaper under the bathroom sink, he grabbed one of Alex's old Pull-Ups.  Oops.  Can you tell this wasn't meant to be a swim diaper?

Alex kept asking me, "Mommy, what do you see?"  He loved looking for the fish, ducks, and Eagles.

We went back to Sam's parent's house to BBQ and get out of the heat for a little bit.  The kids loved playing with each other in the nice air conditioning!

It's funny that I have a picture of Aiden feeding himself.  He mostly fed Emily or Eva. 

The Olynyk's joined us for most of the rest of the night.  They have an adorable little boy who reminds me so much of what Alex looked like at that age.  Cameron is about a month younger than Aiden.  None of them share too well yet.

Wally and his family :)  It's actually Dusty, Katie and Cameron, but for some reason Alex thought his name was Wally and kept referring to him as Wally.

Trying out the trampoline at the Olynyk's for the second year in a row. 

It boggles my mind and scares me how fearless he is.

 

He snuggled right up on the boat. I love my Alex snuggles because they are so few.  Aiden is usually the snuggler.  He was snuggling (sleeping) on Andy.  

Can you tell it was hot out?

Emily loved the Cheetos. She wasn't supposed to have them, but kept taking them out of Aiden's mouth.  He thought it was hilarious and let her take them.  He would then put one back in his mouth and wait for her to take it.  Those two...

Sam's mom, Cindy, lit off fireworks with Alex over the lake.  He absolutely loved it!  They had Root Beer Floats at the Olynyk's and Alex loved them too!

A great fireworks show put on by the City of Prior Lake!  There is nothing like watching fireworks on the lake.  Thanks Sam, Eva and Emily for having us on the boat with you!

Happy Fourth of July 2012!