*BOOM* *CRACK* *POP*

I LOVE 4th of July! It is probably my favorite holiday after Christmas. Food, family, swimming, fun, drinks (well, not for me this year) and fireworks!! Of course we head to my parents to enjoy the fam and the pool.  Chaz was so excited to play in the pool with the family. He LOVES to swim.  (Click here to see last year and here for the year before -- I love being able to look back and see how much my little one has grown. Amazing!)

Watch out Meme! He learned how to shoot water through a noodle.

Chaz is a ton of fun in the pool nowadays. You can rough house with him a little more than you used to. Gaga and him were having a great time. He would get on the raft and she would have none of it!

Finally the boy was able to remain on the raft.

Learning to float from one of the best floaters on the planet. I swear she is made of air.

What a good student!!

 and he is even better with a raft!

Sans the swim jacket. He will be swimming next year!

Check the Gatorade mustache! Yet another sign of summer!

Playing ball with Aunt Sandra and Meme!

Chaz was pumped to be in charge of putting out the flag this year. We told him he had to keep it off the ground and he did a stellar job!!

Papa helped place it just right. Chaz was so proud of himself. AND that he should be :)

Then it was back in the pool for us. I tried to avoid the pictures, for the obvious reason of my growing physique. Well, my dad got a hold of the camera when he saw this goodness coming my way. I can't really blame him. It was hilarious! My child is such the jokester!

and he is becoming quite the swimmer. He has realized that if he points his toes he can walk in the shallow end without his life jacket. Notice the lips. This is really the best part. He is certain that as long as his fish lips are above water, all will be ok. I gotta say, it is a pretty good plan.

Nothing says 4th of July like homemade ice-cream. My mom makes a to-die-for Butterfinger version. I think the boy had vanilla.

and then it was time for this nonsense.. Yes, Papa gave Chaz the water hose. He had a great time keeping people "captured" in the pool.

Look, everyone is hiding behind the rafts!! {Insert evil laugh - BAHAHAHAHA!!}

And sisters using each other as a blocking shield

This picture looks terrible but I promise no 3 year-olds were harmed. He was actually trying to drink from the hose. Not a good plan.

As I was standing a top the rock-wall I looked down to see this. I just had to take a picture.. but no real commentary is needed.

And then Karlee decided she wanted to swim. Yes, I know dachshunds don't usually swim. I actually thought they were not able to swim as their proportions are a little...off. But this little girl proved me wrong. Check her out!!

It was well past nap time, I figured we were just going to overlook it for this day, so I sent Ryan and Chaz inside to change their clothes. I noticed it was taking a very long time for them to return to the outside world so I went to check on them... and this is what I found. They were plain tuckered out!!

I let the boys sleep for a bit and then it was time for fireworks. There was a major burn ban so there would not be the BIG celebration as their had been in years past--we usually go down to my uncle's house and shoot fireworks into the field across the street. Not this year. We decided to stick to the driveway. Everyone, I mean everyone, came out front and sat on the driveway (not sure why we didn't get chairs) to see the little guy shoot off his fireworks. This is what it looks like when you by for a 3 year-old as opposed to our standard arsenal for the grownups.

Papa started off slow with the pull confetti poppers.

Uncle Shane decided to assist

He doesn't look overly impressed. I will attribute this to the 30 minute nap.

This was his little "safe" place. In the flowerbed, next to Kelsey. I guess he figured nothing would "get" him here. He would pick out the firework, give it to Papa and then run back to his spot.

 

 

His first Roman-candle. I only let him do this with Papa. He is in safe hands.

And then Ryan had to take his turn.

Chaz wanted two of the trucks to race. Unfortunately, one took off faster then the other. Papa tried to wrangle them back together but wasn't really successful.

 I love this. Look at Chaz and Papa's shoulders. They are both tensed up waiting for the fireworks to explode! We had a few incidences with rogue fireworks so the tension was warranted.

He then found the Snap Pops. You know, those little white bags that you toss at people and they POP. He tossed them at everyone, nobody was safe. Then he decided to sit them behind Papa and stomp on them. I really think this was the highlight of his evening. He liked the rest of the fireworks but these, these were the funniest!

Sparkler time for everyone!!

Chaz was fine just watching the sparklers (and he handed them out to everyone) from his new perch.

And then it was time for clean-up. My dad has already trained him well... well, I guess not very well considering he ended up spraying most of the spectators but at least he cleaned the driveway first. I didn't get any pictures of the "water war" as I was one of the unlucky sprayees.

I guess he got a second wind after the fireworks. He decided he wanted to ride his Rhino and show off a bit.

His trick move.

After dinner the neighbors invited us over to see some Chinese lanterns.I have seen them on T.V. but never in person.  I have to say, they were amazing. I wish the pictures turned out better but these will just have to do.

What a fantastic holiday weekend. I look forward to the 4th every year. It IS one of my favorite holidays. Enjoying the fam and seeing the excitement on my kiddo's face is priceless in my mind. Happy 4th people!!