July 4th

We celebrated July 4th in Knoxville with our friends, Josh and Brooke, and their three year old twin girls, Ashley and Aubrey.  The 4th was rainy so the festivities were moved inside a tennis complex.  They had a "carnival" with games, face painting, jumpy houses, cotton candy and snow cones.  Jacob was very excited to try cotton candy for the first time!   

 Anna was very excited to get her face painted by a clown.  She had an American flag inside a heart on her cheek.  Another clown made her this butterfly balloon.  Jacob wasn't interested in having his face painted but once he saw Anna's balloon he had to have a balloon and patiently stood in a very long line to get a white tiger.

 Jacob loved the games.  He played "strong man", baseball, and did the ring toss. 

 Anna dropped a chocolate cupcake all over herself.  Thankfully she wears chocolate quite well. :)After the "carnival" we headed outside for a gorgeous fireworks display.  It was lightly raining but we had great seats under large patio umbrellas.  It was the first time the kids had seen fireworks!  While they were initially impressed, they quickly decided they were too noisy. 

 July 5th we had a lazy morning playing at our friends' home.  The kids enjoyed painting, chasing, riding vehicles, and just being together. 

 

 We headed downtown to Market Square for yummy Mexican food  .

 After lunch we went swimming, had a quick rest, and went out for pizza.  All the fun caught up with sweet Anna.  For the first time since she was a tiny baby, she slept in my lap while we ate. 

Next it was off to the Knoxville Zoo for a private guided evening tour!  This was such a cool experience!  The animals were very active and it was so fun to have the whole zoo to ourselves.   

 Everyone's favorite was this incredible tiger who was right up at the fence and very interested in watching the little ones!   

Another highlight of the zoo tour was our kids seeing fireflies for the first time.  They were fascinated by the bugs but Anna was not happy when "hers" flew away!  Of course her meltdown might have had something to do with the fact that it was 9pm....

Thanks again to our sweet friends for a wonderful visit! 

Boston!

Papa turned 95(!) on June 24th so we decided this was the perfect reason to plan a trip to Boston. The kids were fabulous and we all had such a wonderful time visiting with our family! 

 

Saturday we went over to Jenny and Josh's house for swimming, playing, and eating. So much fun!

Bella, Anna, J.J., Jacob

 

 Jacob loved the crazy sprinkler hose 

 Anna loved the "roller coaster" which they have on a hill so the kids keep going and going!

 Jacob and David throwing the ball

 Jimmy wasn't so sure about Anna piloting the plane :)

 Saturday night the grandparents watched the nine kiddos so we could go out in Boston.  We started with a scrumptious meal in the North End.

Carolyn, Kerry, me, Jenny 

 We then headed out to celebrate David's birthday with dancing and drinks.  

Kerry, me, Jimmy, Jenny, David, Carolyn, JC, Josh

 (Jay isn't pictured) 

 Upon our arrival back to Papa's on Sunday we discovered Aunt Laraine and Bella had introduced Anna to "tap dancing".  Anna was very excited to show us her new accessories and perform her dance moves in Papa's kitchen.

Sunday afternoon we went to Isaac's in Plymouth to celebrate David's birthday.  Jacob was interested in cracking the lobster but not eating it.

After dinner we headed to Kristina and Justin's for cake and ice cream.

  Monday we took the boat from Hingham to downtown Boston. 

The kids loved it (and the adults did too)!

 We visited the New England Aquarium and had a wonderful time.  The kids especially loved the sea lions, penguins, and giant turtles.  After the aquarium it was off to Quincy Market for a yummy lunch.

 I thought this fish was really neat and really ugly.

 We went over to Laraine and Bill's for Papa's birthday celebration. The kids had a blast on the water slide.

The kids all gathered around for play-doh.

 Anna was very impressed with Aunt Laraine's dolls.

 Happy 95th Birthday, Papa!

Our family is quite the crowd; we couldn't get everyone in one picture! 

  

 Happy 95th Birthday, Papa!  We are so glad we were able to celebrate with you and the rest of our wonderful family!