God bless America, my home sweet home

4th of July at the Valentines was another hit this year! Our goal is most always to relax & we succeeded once again.  We hosted a mini 4th of July bash in the backyard that started at 4pm. Thankfully the  massive rainstorm came and went around 1:30 followed by the bright sunshine that dried up all the rain and the itsy bitsy spider went up the spout again ; )

We invited family & some neighbors over to grill, bounce, play Cornhole & light sparklers. Fun was had by all, especially the little ones around.

the other Valentines

the Cantwells minus Gracie

Ellis + Valentine= happiness ; ) 

My mom & I had been in birthday party prep mode all week & had just finished making bean bags for a game at the party when I had an idea.  I asked Rob if he would be up for building us Cornhole boards for the party that was in 4 hours.  He laughed at me & looked at me like I had 3 eyes. 30 minutes later, he was outside cutting boards.  This man loves a project! In no time at all, I had whipped up 4 patriotic beanbags & Rob finished up the boards.  We started with them inside & laughed as the girls crawled all over them. I took the first toss & hit Charlotte in the back quite hard with the bean bag. She cried, I felt awful. Eloise was practicing standing up & sitting down. It is so fun to see her standing & attempting to walk. She is up to 3 steps in a row right now.

Gaga & the girls watching our indoor game. 

Once everyone arrived, we moved outside.  It was quite breezy & felt WONDERFUL.  

 

We were properly instructed on how to play Cornhole & kept on playing for the rest of the evening! My Dad hurled one at me to get me back for hitting his granddaughter with one....youch!

Friends Alex & Sal joined us for the celebration & let us blow up their bounce house. It was fabulous to entertain the kids.  We had to drag Eloise out of it...she loved it! Charlotte had some red cheeks for being so hot & kept rolling down the slide then standing on her head.

Sara & Orin

Cassie 

I was bummed I didn't get a picture of Sal, Alex, Cassie & Nico all together but at least I got this adorable one of Cassie with her huge grin as she happily collected the beanbags & passed them to the next player.  She loved her little job & it was actually really nice to let her bend down to get them over and over and over and over ;  )

Isaac has become one happy boy that can give you a giggle on a moments notice.
He LOVED being lifted up & down really fast by his favorite Daddy!

Here we are with our first official opponents in Cornhole. The beat us the first time around & we were ahead the second time when we had to stop to care for our wild & tired children.  Sara & Chad are from Texas & live right around the block from us.  Sara & I have gotten to know each other over the past year.  I knew on the first day I met this family that Robby would love hanging out with them. Don't ask me why it took an entire year to get together but it did. I would say it was worth the wait ; ) We have had a blast with them over the last few weeks & look forward to some more fun times with our families.

We ended the bash with some sparklers.  Charlotte was pretty serious, I'm not sure if she ever even smiled. Orin on the other hand, he wasn't allowed to hold one but made a bee line for Charlotte's & had to be restrained ; ) 

Such a fun afternoon & evening! Everyone left by about 8:30 & we listened/watched from the window as our neighbors shot off fireworks. The girls were so exhausted they slept through it all!

Just for kicks, here is a picture of us enjoying our first 4th of July as a couple in 2003 at Uncle Bill & Aunt K's cabin on Lake Texoma. We had been dating for almost 3 months.. Love that boy! He bought my engagement ring that week : )