Red, white, and blue - and ten days overdue

Our annual fourth of July trip to Elko to visit Chuck's family was definitely a success; we managed to have all sorts of fun despite Clyde and Will being under the weather at various times.

The backyard was a popular hang-out area: we jumped on the trampoline quite a bit,

and swung (swinged? swang?) on a swing,

and played in the water. Thank goodness for leaks in the hose - they let out just enough water!

Chuck attempted the merry-go-round by himself, unsuccessfully, but luckily Courtney befriended him:

followed shortly by George:

and around and around they went!

Grandma Izatt also provided fun craft projects, so we came home with new doorknob signs for the boys' room:

Clyde helped me find all of the letters for their names and decided which colors to use :)

We rang in the holiday on Saturday morning with delicious blueberry pancakes topped with strawberries and whipped cream (thanks Grandma and Melissa!) and sent some of the group off to play paintball, including Mallory for the first time! After that it was time to head to our usual spot in the park for the rest of the day.

Notice the foreboding sky behind Chuck. That will come into play later on.

Will got the party started by double fisting it with apple juice and whole milk. Mmmmm.

One bottle down, one to go - time to snuggle with Grandpa!

Mallory and I had a blast playing a cute game called Buzzword I think - is that right? Anyways, it was fun, whatever it's called!

Grandma had more crafts for the kids to do - Clyde painted a flag.

Chuck and Clyde walked over to the playground for a spell and got back just a few minutes before this forced everyone into the nearest car or truck for shelter:

Luckily we had enough warning to get everything covered and put away.

Clyde passed the time by showing me his favorite new pose when a picture is being taken, goofy kid.

The storm passed quickly and we all emerged ready to party again! Chuck's amazingly adorable younger sister Amanda cuddled up with Will for a bit:

while her superbly awesome fiance Steve took a patriotic catnap with Bri:

We can't wait until December 21st when he officially becomes the fourth 'joiner' to the Izatt family, Amanda couldn't have made a better choice!

The majority of the afternoon was spent around the table playing a card game; at one point Lee, Kevin, and Chuck were all playing while holding their respective babies.

Here are Aleesha and Bri relaxing in the shade :)

There was also some volleyball playing, notice Chuck about to serve. This mostly occurred while Clyde and I were at the playground and I was befriending punk 13-year-olds in an effort to get them to stop throwing bark at each other (it worked pretty well).

Clyde and Chuck also managed to fit in some soccer before it got too dark.

When the sun finally set the kids (and many adults) decked themselves out to the max in glowsticks generously provided by Grandma and Pops and we watched the incredible fireworks show that the city of Elko sponsors every year. I love watching the amazing fireworks and feeling so grateful to live in the United States, where I have freedom of speech and freedom of religion (and an assortment of other freedoms, but those are my two favorites).

And lastly, the drive home to Boise wouldn't be the same in the summer months without these little critters covering the road:

Thousands of Mormon crickets. It's SO gross to drive through; the sound of crunching insects is nasty and the road is pretty slick with their smashed-up guts at particularly populated spots.

Yuck!