Happy 4th (and 5th) of July! (on the 7th)

I had good intentions of putting up a couple of posts pre-trip over the 4th. They were going to be about childhood, traditions, and the grand holiday that is the 4th. Yeah, didn't quite get around to doing that, did I. So to try and make up for it, I'll do a photo-overload post. What more could you ask for! :)

Friday we headed off to Omaha for our annual 4th activities. For roughly the past 10 years, we get together with family (which includes dh's immediate family and his aunt/uncle and his cousins and their kids) and picnic at the ballpark before and Omaha Royals game. The game always includes a big fireworks show, then tailgating in the parking lot after waiting for the crowds to thin out. Its a great time, and the kids are getting to the age where they enjoy every part of it, including watching the whole game.

Before the game:





Enjoying the baseball game:





When the game is over, most of the family headed down to the baseball outfield to watch the fireworks. Of course me being the mom with the youngest kid, we headed back to dh's aunt's house. I haven't seen the fireworks show in 5 years. Sitting down on the outfield is awesome--the grass is soft, the view of the fireworks can't be beat, and you get to have fun while waiting:

I guess I missed Emma leading the conga line to "We Are Family"

The crew on the field

Wouldn't be the 4th without fireworks

LC and I got home shortly after 11pm, and the rest of the crew got home around 1am. It made for a short night when the girls were up by 8am the next morning. On the 5th we met back up with everyone at the zoo. This is yet another tradition, going to the zoo the day after the 4th. The 5th also happens to be dh's and I anniversary, so it is our outing of choice to celebrate. Even though we have gone to the Omaha Zoo at least once a year the past 10 years, we had never gotten to the back part of the zoo. This year we started there and this is what we saw:


This is another part we don't always get to, a bridge which goes over a huge koi pond and monkeys hanging out.

The monkey on the left kept raising his hand for food, "Dude, thow me something over here!"

Not sure what EE is checking out here (!)

LC giving her cheesy smile in front of the giraffes



The girls walking with Grandma and Grandpa

We only had one minor mishap at the zoo. We had stopped to meet up with part of our group by a fenced in area. There were little glass bubbles to see what was inside the enclosure (a zebra and some hornbill birds). The kids soon found that the bird was sticking his beak under the fence, so they were taunting it. The bird got the last laugh when it knicked EE on the hand. She learned you don't stick your fingers where they aren't supposed to go!

Again, we spent a long day at the zoo. After the zoo we went over to one of dh's cousins' house for an impromptu get together. The 2nd cousins (what we call kids of cousins) were having a blast playing all weekend. They range in age from almost 14 to almost 3 and all got along great. The IL's had stopped at a local bakery before the party and got us a cake for our anniversary.
It was a Strawberry Wedding Cake and it was to die for!


On Sunday dh and his dad went golfing and the girls got to play one last time at the park across from his aunt's house.




Aside from the 40 min back-up on I-80 coming home, it was a great weekend. The weather was perfect (a first for the entire weekend!), the girls behaved for the most part, the company was great, and we did a lot of fun things. We can't wait until next year! :)