Happy Birthday America!

Well, happy birthday America!  240 years old looks pretty good on you!  We decided to start the holiday weekend off early by hitting our lil' hometown's carnival.

 Sunshine and a beautiful blue sky. #nofilter

 Bumper cars are always fun!

So is hanging out with one of your best friends!

 Love spending time with my girls ;)

 This guy is pretty exceptional too!

 What carnival experience is complete without cotton candy and a funnel cake?!  I can feel the cavities starting in my teeth even as I write this!

On Saturday it was time to wake up and head to Grandma and Grandpa's!  During the summer, this usually means water of some-sort and usually hanging at the beach!  But first, a ton few games of Apples-to-Apples.  Mei Mei got it for her birthday and we all think it is so much fun to play!

 Sand creations and kayaking for the win!

 After church on Sunday we went down to our dock to cool off.  Brrr, the water seemed much colder than at Grandma and Grandpa's, but that didn't stop anyone.

 Have you tried those bunch 'o water balloons?  So cool...and soo easy!  I can't ever imagine tying another water balloon again.  Water balloon fights are fun, but they can leave a pretty big zing...

 ...so we opted for target practice instead.

 On the actual 4th of July, Lala and Papa came over, as well as our good family friends for a BBQ and fireworks.  All day long it had been overcast but we kept our fingers crossed that the rain would stay away.  Unfortunately, right as we were getting ready to eat, it decided to let loose, so we just stayed home, rather than going down to the park and getting all soggy.

 Quite the multicultural spread here:  ribs (2 styles--traditional and Chinese) and chips, ginger and scallion shrimp, vegetarian stir fry udon noodles, crabcakes with sirachi horseradish sauce, potato salad, tortellini caprice salad and 4th of July salad (spinach with strawberries, blueberries and poppyseed dressing).

Happy bellies and smiling faces!

While the rain came down and the adults chatted, the kiddos entertained themselves.  This crew really gets along well and I love to see them all playing together!

Then it was dessert time!!!  Lemon blueberry trifle, cherry cheesecake, fruit and cupcakes.  I love The Noodle's face in this one!!  Ha--big, wide eyes and a quick lick of the fingers.  A total dessert face ;)

We ended the night down at the park and since the rain had finally stopped, we were able to watch some fireworks.  Due to the mist and heavy cloud coverage it wasn't great, but it was still a fun way to end the evening!  Happy 4th of July!!