Fourth of July Weekend Festivities

Whew! What a weekend of fun. I am so sad it is over. As I was uploading these pics for this {VERY} long post, I could even smell the sweet smell of Katie's sunscreen. Ahhh...must be the sign of a good weekend. :) We started the weekend off with a our meal sharing dinner at our house Friday night (with our neighbors - again, another post will soon be coming to discuss this and get input). Definitely a great way to kick the weekend off! Saturday, we got up and headed to the neighborhood bike, stroller, and wagon parade for the kiddos. It was so fun! Then Katie and I met Ashley and Avery at the pool. Needless to say, Katie napped like a champ that day. And then Sunday we went to church (I seem to have deleted the pics of Katie in her patriotic smocked dress - dangit!) and hung out at home. After Katie's nap, we went down to swim and grill out with friends - so fun! And then yesterday, the actual 4th, we went to brunch with Brad's mom and strolled through the Franklin on the Fourth Festival. It was hot but still fun! And then last night, we grilled out with my mom's side of the family and headed back to downtown Franklin to the top of a parking garage to watch the city fireworks with our neighbors. It was a perfect weekend full of too much food, lots of fun, pooltime, and family and friends. Here are quite a few pictures to highlight the fun!

{SATURDAY}

{I think Katie wasn't quite ready to be up, dressed, and at a parade so early in the morning!}
{We took our wagon for Katie and Stella to ride in...they sat in it just perfectly! They may have been hot, but they loved watching all the big kids on their bikes!}

{Katie sure was proud of her mini water bottle!}

{The crowd lining up for the parade...}

{Stella was excited and ready to go!}

{The parade was even led by a city firetruck! Katie thought that was pretty cool.}

{The big kids were being silly on their bikes, and Katie loved every minute of it.}

{Starting to show a little smile...}

{Jill pulling the girls to the little playground area}

{Stella was ready to slide! I think she was just happy to be in the shade!}

{I just love this picture of Katie. Not sure why I do...maybe because she just looks so happy!}

{This one is to highlight her cute shirt. And her expression is pretty funny too. I wonder what she was looking at!}

{Putting that mini bottle of water to good use!}

{So happy. She loved the swings.}

{FrIeNdS}

{Weeeeeeeeeeee!!!!}

{She loved climbing on those bars! Some big girls came over and Katie watched them very carefully. She then thought she could climb to the very top. Eek!!}

{After the parade and then fun in the sun at the pool, Katie was one tired little lady. She slept in the exact same position where I tucked her in for her entire nap.}
{SUNDAY}

{When we went out to the farm to swim with Cat and Tyler, Sadie got to go too! She hadn't seen her BFF, Callie, in quite some time. And of course, she loves Cat and Tyler too. She followed Tyler right into the pool! She is such a scaredy dog, we didn't think for a second that she'd jump in the pool. Boy, were we wrong!}

{Katie had a blast! She had fun playing with her toys. And splashing people. And getting splashed by people. And jumping in.}

{She also loved eating the chips. She must have worked up a serious appetite with all that swimming!}

{Brad taking a break from swimming!}

{I love taking flower pics with my nice camera. I do love this one for sure!}

{Cat was checking on the grill. Or putting the squash on the grill. Or something. She definitely looks like a grill master though!}

{Katie sitting at the head of the table. Are you surprised? I'm not!} {Katie was about to get splashed by Cat!}

{And she loved every minute of it!}

{MONDAY}

{Starting the day off by doing her favorite puzzle!}

{And eating brunch at Puckett's - YUM! Katie got one pancake - and they did it in the shape of Mickey Mouse!}

{Then we walked around the Franklin on the 4th Festival! The act on the stage was a group of amazing cloggers (yes, we are in the south!), and Katie LOVED it. In fact, she cried when we walked away!}

{Another cute 4th of July shirt. And she can wear these again in a few weeks when we go to some Atlanta Braves game (same colors)!}

{Katie loved running around and seeing all of the cute dogs!}

{We stopped in a different area and let Katie watch the cloggers again. When in her stroller, she would move her feet with the cloggers were dancing. When she was out of her stroller, she would clap and dance. It was so cute!}

{Katie had her first sno-cone! I got one with cherry and blue raspberry - YUM! And she loved it too!}

{Nothing like an ice cold beer on a hot summer day. :) Last night, we headed to my aunt and uncle's house. He had smoked a chicken and some pork - and it was absolutely delicious. I took appetizers - pinwheels and caramel apple dip. Recipes to come on those - amazing, and NO COOKING! Just some mixing.}

{I'm pretty sure Katie sat here about 60% of the time eating some goldfish. She also loved my other aunt's dog. She kept sitting on the floor for Zoe to come up to her and give her kisses. She also showed Zoe her shoes everytime she came over to her. Hilarious!}

{And then we headed back to Frankin to the top of a parking deck. What a great idea! I didn't want to go to the designated park to watch fireworks because traffic is always awful. But it was so easy to get in and then leave at this location! And I actually got a decent fireworks picture!!}

{Jill and Stella watching the fireworks!}

{Daddy and Katie watching fireworks! If you look closely, there is actually a firework in the background. That's called picture luck!}

{Katie loved the fireworks, even though she was getting a little tired and grumpy!}

{Stella and Katie snacking on sweet potato fries and goldfish! Whatever it takes to keep these little ladies happy!}

{**Hope your weekend was just as fabulous! I love summer!**}