Our 4th of July

We went back to Boone for the 4th to visit with Chris's family. We stayed with Jamie, Heather, and the boys again. We somehow didn't get any pictures with them which is strange but the camera didn't the leave the bag to much. We just tried to relax and enjoy ourselves.

On the 3rd we spent the morning together as a family. We went to eat at Knights on Main in Blowing Rock and took Ivy to the Candy Barrell and let her pick out some treats. We've taken her there before but it's been a while so I don't think she remembered it. We opened the door and her little eyes got SO HUGE! Imagine being a kid and walking into a store full of nothing but barrells of candy and toys...we hadn't even gotten both feet in the door and then half-laughing, half-squealing she said "Oh, I like this place!" Of course Chris and I and all of the other customers fell out laughing. Then she wasted no time grabbing a basket and throwing candy in.

She was so excited and if I'm being completely honest...so was I.  Anywhere I can get a long neck Dr. Pepper in a glass bottle makes me happy.

Then it was off to Mountain City, TN to visit Chris's Grandma.  Ivy hadn't seen "Big Maw" in over a year and a half.  She was seriously barely walking the last time we went there...shame on us.  The camera actually made it inside but we were too busy catching up with everyone and eating to take any pictures.

When we left Big Maw's house we went to the local park to have some playtime.  Ivy got to spend some one on one time with her Paw which they both enjoyed.  The playground was great and we were the only people there.  And it was about 85 degrees instead of 105 degrees like it was in Georgia, so that was a plus.

As you can see...we ALL had lots of fun.

On the 4th we decided to skip the parades because we would lose so much time in the car.  We took Ivy to play in the New River again instead.    We didn't have the place to ourselves but it wasn't crowed either so it was nice.  Ivy was excited...as you can tell.

It was fun to watch Chris get so excited about taking Ivy to the river.  He grew up fishing and playing in it so it was special for him to get to take Ivy.

I on the other hand sat out on the rocks.  Don't get me wrong...I was excited too but that water is cold...REALLY, REALLY COLD.  And I'm just not down with it.  I love the hot sun and being in the water but that water is so cold I want to cry.  I also didn't take my swimsuit because I didn't want to change in the car.

And it's not very often that Chris gets to be in front of the camera.

While we were in the river a big thunderstorm came out of nowhere so we climbed back up the bank really fast and jumped in the car.  It rained and rained and rained.  We drove up to Beech Mountain where the temp dropped to.....wait for it....58 degrees.  Seriously, 58 degrees in July in the middle of the day.  That my friends is how Georgia and the North Carolina mountains differ in the summer.

The best part of the day...I got to see my cousin Amy and her husband Steve.  They are missionaries and live in Mexico with their three kiddos.  The last time I saw Amy was July 4th, 2007 when I was pregnant.  I was excited for her to finally meet Ivy.  Steve's family was having a big family reunion on Beech Mountain and they just happened to have a few days free and they were able to fly up for the holiday.  I got really excited when Steve sent me a message telling me that if we were in North Carolina they would like to get together.  Everything lined up and worked out and we spent a couple of hours just catching up.  It was really nice to see them.  Amy was my hero growing up and I've always looked up to her.

Our plans to spend the evening in Bethel for the Bethal Blast were changed because of the rain so we headed over spend the evening with Jamie and Heather.  They were at her sister Tiffany's house and it was great to finally meet Tiffany in person!  There were lots of kids so Ivy had a blast playing and running around.  We all got ready to go on a hike but we didn't have the appropriate shoes and had to stay behind.  We were bummed but thats okay because we got to run through a field of wild daisies. 

I just noticed that tiny bug on the top left of that daisy.

And being in a field full of flowers that it's okay to pick....well that is Ivy's dream.

And I was serious when I said we got to run through a field of wild daisies....cue the cheesy movie music.

Now, I dare you to tell me those aren't the cutest pictures ever!

We even had a race.  Ivy let me win.

Then she asked me to help her pick flowers.  I had a cute little bouquet and she said "Here Mommy hold mine too."  She handed me a bouquet of daisies with no petals.  And this is the conversation that followed:

Me: Ivy why did you pick these?  Pick some pretty ones so we can put them in water when we get back.
Ivy:  I did pick pretty ones.
Me:  But they don't have any petals Ivy.
Ivy:  But they are all pretty Mama!

I could probably learn something from this kid.

We finished the evening with a firework show out in Linville. It was nice even though it was wet from all the rain. I hope you had a great 4th too!