Summer 2014 - Day 17

Friday, July 4th - Day 17

Happy 4th of July!!  I absolutely LOVE the 4th of July - I love the cookouts, the gatherings of friends/family, the summer heat, the pool, the excitement, the relaxation, and of course, the fireworks.  It runs a very very very close second behind Christmas in my book in terms of my favored holidays.  This year, Ryan is FINALLY old enough to stay up late enough to watch the fireworks.  He's seen fireworks a few times here and there and has LOVED them, so I was really excited to show him the real deal with fireworks with a July 4th display!

We started the day building towers and trains (of course).  We took a quick trip to Trader Joe's, and then we went to our neighborhood pool for their July 4th celebration.

Still loves the water squirters!

Love this picture!

Enjoying the cookout at the pool!

Taking a break!

Ryan had a great time at the pool and it was such a fun atmosphere there!  The pool had a DJ set up, they organized a big neighborhood potluck cookout, and lots of fun games for kids AND adults (we didn't participate in them though).  Ryan loves going to the pool!  Joe even joined us for a bit (he had to work - booooo) and so we swam in the "big pool" for a bit, too!  Ryan even put his nose in the water - just the tip of his nose - but this, friends, is huge.  He is really scared of puting his face in the water or holding his breath and going underwater, so he was really brave and conquered a little bit of his fear and put the tip of his nose!  So cute!

After a few hours at the pool, we came home for a quick nap and then went to another cookout.  We met up with some old family friends and ate some more delicious summertime cookout food and then went downtown to watch the fireworks.  One of my best friends lives in downtown Raleigh so we walked from her place to Boylan Brew Pub to watch both the Fayetteville Street fireworks and the Red Hat Amphitheater fireworks.  Ryan absolutely loved them!

Waiting for the big show to begin!

I love this picture of the two of us!

I know the quality of the pictures isn't that great, but Joe was taking them with my iPhone.  Better than nothing, right? :)

Awww, a heart for me and Ryan!

From where we were standing, it seemed that the Fayetteville Street fireworks were better than the Red Hat fireworks, but eh, fireworks are fireworks and they were all fantastic.  Maybe next year we'll venture down to Fayetteville Street to watch the show from there.

And now, we're off to the beach for a week of family, beach time, walks, shrimp, the pier, riding the waves, picking out shells, seafood, and FUN FUN FUN!