4th of July Holiday

Prepare now for lots of pictures from our 4th of July celebration! We went to a parade, fireworks, and the zoo the next day all in Idaho Falls, ID. Mike grew up there and he LOVES the fireworks display they put on each year. If you've never been to a mind blowing crazy amount of explosion fireworks show before, you're missing out! This show is a huge deal and draws people from all over in record numbers each year to a relatively small town. As crazy and stressful as big crowds are it sure makes for great memories and time spent together with our little family.

The Parade

Brooke in her sun glasses.

Eryn was so excited for candy at the parade! Every time that they would throw it at her she'd run out and grab exactly 1 piece and run back to her spot with us.

Mike got a cheer from the IF Chuckers (minor league baseball team) with his hat!

Beautiful cars have to be MY favorite part of the parade.

Brooke really liked the horses. Who wouldn't when they're painted all patriotic like that?

Eryn was wheelin' and dealin' for the sucker she really wanted.

Here's the baseball team.

Mike's brother Sam and his family went up to celebrate too!

Brooke just wanted to watch the parade and not take a picture.

Other people have no problem striking poses.

Benefit of going somewhere with people you know- a picture with the whole family! (Wow, am I really THAT short?)

The Fireworks

No pictures of the actual fireworks. Sorry! I wanted to fully enjoy them and not worry about my camera and settings and all of that.

Across the Snake River is where they light the fireworks from. We managed to sit so close and catch the wind just right that pieces of debris fell on us from time to time. Eryn was not happy with that and Brooke struggled with the noise. Eventually they were ok though and enjoyed the fireworks.

Brooke and Shaylie dancing.

The glow necklaces and bracelets were a fun extra. Eryn liked it and Brooke could care less. Those two are so different sometimes that it's funny to me that they are sisters.

The Zoo

Brooke didn't last long in the stroller.

Brooke and her cousin Shaylie (6 days older than her) have their own little conversations and Brooke gets so excited to see her and spend time with her. They had a lot of fun together at the zoo looking at the animals.

These cute little guys attracted a lot of attention.

Eryn found a stage and proceeded to preform for everyone. To her credit, whatever it was she was singing was plenty loud so we could all hear it. I couldn't help but laugh when Mike pointed out the "Animal Encounters" sign behind them. Yeah, it seemed fitting.

Josh was a lot of help chasing down kids this weekend and his help oddly made me miss Andrew (Mike's brother who is on an LDS church mission) even more.

The goat thought that Brooke had food.

My favorite was when Eryn said, "Look Mom, I can brush the goat's hair and he doesn't even freak out!"

The Dads watching their kids from the safety of the other side of the fence. Ha ha. Honestly, Mike was about to die from allergies just being near those goats. The sun glasses hide the fact that both of them had super red and itchy eyes. Fun facts that Moms remember and the kids never need to know.

Eryn LOVED this water fountain. She even asked if we could have one at our house.

Intimidated?

I have a strange strong love of birds I blame my Dad for. This trip around I really seemed interested in cranes and water fowl.

This Roseate Spoonbill laid an egg! I was so excited because I've never seen them with an egg before.

This monkey went crazy for one of the keepers who was talking with us. He jumped all over the place and even leaned up against the glass like he was going to get his back scratched. It was super funny and the girls just loved it!

Idaho Falls

Once upon a time Mike's Mom used to drive past this house and tell the kids that it was the ugliest house. I couldn't see anything wrong with it. Ha ha. Apparently, it used to be green and Judy HATES anything that is green. Amazing how a little paint might change her mind about it now.

I can hardly stand how happy she is when having Wendy's chicken nuggets. The screaming, tantrums, and general annoying behavior stops just long enough to acquire chicken nuggets and consume them.

Mike showing the girls the Snake River and the water falls that give Idaho Falls is name. Brooke kept pointing and saying, "Water!"

The LDS Temple in Idaho Falls. Every time we go up there we threaten to take some nice pictures of the temple. This year the ground were all tore up. They seem to be renovating the entire landscape of the temple grounds.

It was Brooke's nap time.

Before a nap though, it was time to go chase some ducks and geese by the river!

The girls didn't last long in the car once we started out journey home.

Mike and I were tired to, so we decided to let Slush drive.

It was a long couple of days with lots going on, but it was worth it. The girls had a lot of fun and Mike was able to see his beloved fireworks! That trip might not happen again for a couple of years, so I'm glad we did it.

Oh and for those of you who are just waiting for me to cave in and claim that I "like the van" this trip was a step in your direction. I'm not claiming I like it just yet, but it was really nice to just throw in a big cooler and a bunch of bags without even thinking about how to arrange it to make it fit. We could have taken so much more and still had plenty of room.