Food, family, fun and fireworks (sort of)

We had the folks and the kids over yesterday for a potluck barbecue to celebrate the 4th. The only thing missing was B.J., and he went to a crusade that I'm anxious to hear about. We started mid-afternoon, figuring the kids wouldn't be much into the fireworks, and that we could drive over near Shawnee Mission Park to see the good stuff later.

We just hung out, ate GOOD food, chatted, and watched the kids play - here's Lexi improvising with a sticker (I think she might have had Papa's help).


Here's the "GG's" - the great-grandmas - my (Angie's) mom Peggy on the left and Greg's mom Pat on the right.


Here's Lexi delivering her best throw with a snap pop - she had a pretty good time launching those at people's feet. Love the skeeter bite in her armpit too. :)


Here's Mason in Daddy's new hat - he LOVES hats and is fairly proficient at getting them on and off his little head.


Last but not least, the pitiful pile of fireworks we attempted (half of them are unused). We only bought ones that didn't go up in the air much (our trees) and didn't make much if any noise because we thought it would freak Mason out. Turned out they ALL freaked Lexi out, and after the third separate attempt, when she buried her head in J.R.'s neck and said, "Daddy, these fare [scare] me SO MUCH!" it was too heartbreaking to try anymore. So we packed it in about 8:00 and were all probably in bed by the time the good fireworks got going ... which was fine with us. It was still a lovely day.