Independence Day 2008

This has got to be one of my favorite holidays. It just seems like it's a great time for families to be together and have fun without a lot of pressure. We don't have any set 4th of July tradition. I guess the rule is to just have fun. This year Kevin had Thursday and Friday off. We drove up to Seattle to spend the weekend with our friends Chad and Kedra. On the way, we stopped in Kent and took Zane on a bike ride in the trailer. He's still not so sure about it so we spent a lot of time singing. We looked pretty cheesy as we had coincidentally dressed in the same khaki cargo shorts and yellow shirts and we're riding along this trail singing silly kid songs.

Let me interject right now with an explanation. You may notice in some of the pictures Zane has a dark "smudge" from the right corner of his mouth to his right ear. Also, another "smudge" on the top right of his forehead. Those are not smudges. They are bruises. Will this kid ever have a face without a bruise again?

We had a great time in Seattle relaxing, eating good food and having fun. Olivia is getting a new baby brother in November and she was very curious when I was changing Zane's diaper. So, one of the first things that happened when we got there was that Olivia got an anatomy lesson. I won't go into detail, but kids are so curious and cute!

We went to their ward's 4th of July breakfast. It was at a great park and Zane had a lot of fun going down the big slide. Unfortunately, the medics had to be called for someone in their ward, but Zane was pretty exited about the fire truck. He also became such good friends with their daughter, Olivia, and loved following her around.

Friday night we drove down to the pier and had a picnic and let the kids run around. Zane was dying to get in the water. He hated that we were holding on to his hands and would only let him wade. Unfortunately we left his swim diapers and extra clothes at home. Somehow he ended up getting quite wet any way, so he ran around pantless all night. Poor child. He enjoyed the fireworks, but could only sit still for so long. As we were leaving, the driver of our car backed into a huge cement wall. It was a pretty loud crunch and dinged up our bumper pretty bad. It was scary for a second, but it looks like everything's going to be okay.

Saturday we decided to take the kids for another ride. Unfortunately, by the time we got going it was about nap time and Zane decided he just wasn't up for it. His being upset made Olivia upset so it was a short ride. But everyone was happy after we stopped at the Pilchuk Drive-In for some food. This was one of the best parts of the trip. There's nothing like drive-in restaurant food. Zane, we discovered, loves chocolate shakes. Hmmm, no surprise there.

We're home now. We had a great time with Chad, Kedra and Olivia. Zane and Olivia became good buds and Olivia was so sad when we left. She's going to be a great big sister! Thanks for a great weekend guys.