4th of July in Idaho Falls

We were lucky enough to have the 4th land on a weekend this year. That means that we get to go to Idaho Falls for our family reunion (on my Mom's side) and catch the 4th of July fireworks too. The Idaho Falls fireworks show is really superb. I'd rank it as the best I've ever seen, but somewhere in my mind I think I saw some amazing ones in New York once. Regardless, they put on a good show. Having said that, I don't actually care for any of the festivities brought on by the 4th of July. Not that I'm un-American or anything, but it's just not my thing. Two reasons, crowds and heat! I'm not a fan of either one. I feel especially grateful to have spent the whole weekend with family. That's fun enough for me. Josh, Mom, Mason and I all stayed with my Aunt Barb and Uncle Dave starting Thursday. Nicole, Wade, Ethan and Ellie stayed with Heidi and Craig (and their boys) also on Thursday. My sister, Stacy and her family (minus Alexa, Mandi and Jeff) came up from Saturday to Sunday. We played and played and played. Josh and I attended the street festival on Friday, which was totally lame. They did have Yorkie pups for sale, so we let Mason pet one. That night we put Mason to bed and Josh and I went to see the movie 'Hancock'. I liked it a lot. While we were gone, the Perkes and the Gummows went to stake out our fireworks watching area. After the movie, we ran back to the house to get Mason, and off to the fireworks we went. We got there with about a minute to spare. Nicole and Wade had bought glow sticks and rings for the kids and Mason was truly more interested in those than the fireworks. Considering I had just woke Mason up from being asleep for 2 hours, he was in good spirits. Just playing with his daddy and noticing the fireworks every once in awhile. Everyone enjoyed the show! It took us an hour and a half to get back to Barb's house, which is no more than 5 miles away. Traffic was not fun. I entertained Mason in the back seat as much as I could while we waited and waited. We made it home around midnight and put the little fishy back to bed.

Saturday was the reunion and for once, my Grandma wasn't there. She is 96 yrs. old and lives in a rest home in Idaho Falls. We felt it best that she stay in the nice, air conditioned home. She is pretty out of it anyway and wouldn't remember much, if any, of it. The reunion was good. We had our usual pot luck grub and an adult and kid auction. We had made a cookbook/photobook of my Grandma's favorite recipes with my Aunt Barb and cousin Heidi. We each donated one of these books for the auction, which were a big hit. My Mom and I had also worked with another cousin on the family calendars. We added pictures, contact info. and all birthday/anniversaries to it. It was a big job and it turned out great!

My Mom really works hard on this reunion every year. She cares so much for her family and it always shows. Not only did she work on items for the auction, she brought a couple of salads for the pot luck, plus brought 2 roasts for us to enjoy over the weekend. She rocks! I made Rice Krispie treats. Yum!

The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out and playing. Nicole brought up some tin can stilts for us to try. I could walk on them, but that was the extent of it. Josh, on the other hand, could run across the driveway and back. However, when he hit grass, the ropes would snap. He fixed the rope twice, but by the 3rd time, they gave up. Again, I have a video clip of it, but it seems to be too big to post on here. Craig is the only one capable of going fast and staying upright on a Razor scooter, besides his son, Cy. I suck miserably at it, which really surprises me. Back in the day, I was quite impressive on a scooter. Saturday night they lit off fireworks in the front yard. I stuck around for half an hour or so and then went inside with Ellie. I was bored and she was cold. It worked out well. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the fireworks being set off.

I would say it was a wonderful weekend. I was happy that Josh came with us. He and Mason got to spend 3 full days together. That doesn't happen very often, if ever. They enjoyed the time together and Mason loved having Daddy around. Mason learned how to climb stairs this weekend. He can take about 10 or so at a time, with Daddy behind him for protection. YIKES! My baby is growing up so fast.