Better Late than Never!

The title of this post would've been The 4th of July and Family Reunion, but since it has taken me so long to get it up, I figured the Better Late than Never title was more fitting.

Anyway, we had a great 4th of July. We went up to Rock Springs, Wyoming to visit my brother's family. Most of my family went too. (Except Melissa's family-she had just had a baby-no more explanation needed. We missed you though!) We had fun hanging out and Melina had a great time playing with her cousins. On the 4th, we went to a park in Green River for a picnic and there was a fun playground and little splash park there. We coaxed Melina to walk into the splash area once and it was all it took to freak her out and she refused to go back in. Oh well, she had fun playing on the playground.

Later that day we had a barbecue with lots of yummy food and then were able to enjoy some street fireworks. Melina got a little scared and had to sit on my lap and I had to cover her ears for the loud ones. She didn't want anything to do with the sparklers. We've taught her to stay away from hot things, so can you blame her for not wanting to hold a stick with flaming hot sparks on the end? Once it was dark enough, we headed out to watch the fireworks show. It is definitely different driving down the street in Wyoming on the 4th of July, there were fireworks in the sky all over the place. I think Melina enjoyed seeing them, of course she had to sit on my lap though. Believe or not, she actually fell asleep towards the end. She wanted me to cover her ears and a few minutes later I looked down and her eyes were closed and she was out. It was way past her bedtime and she only had a very short nap that day, so again, can you blame her?

It was a great weekend, cranky kids and all (they were all going on little to no naps and late nights). Thanks to Nathan and Rene for being such great hosts.

On the 11th, we went to the Riddle Reunion. It was great being able to hear some stories about my great grandparents. Melina had fun playing on the big playground and in the bounce houses and in the sand. She LOVES playing in the sand (we're getting her a sandbox for her birthday which is coming up really soon).

Here is a slide show of the 2 events. Sorry, I'm too lazy to separate them. Most of the pics are from the Wyoming trip. The Reunion pics are towards the end. Enjoy!