Fourth of July Weekend

We went to Clifton to spend the 4th with Brent's family, and they allowed us to invite Kathy and Benjamin along as well. What fun we had! And it was great for Samantha to be with all of her first cousins at one time. This was the first time for that. Brent and I got there first with Samantha on Thursday afternoon, then Dave and Staci got there a few hours later.


Friday morning the guys went to play golf and Samantha and Emma played in the sandbox together. We all met up in Meridian for lunch with Kathy and Benjamin at El Jardin. Yeah, I got to have those guacamole chalupas I have been wanting for the last month :)!

We came back to the house and put Samantha down for a nap (which she never took) then went swimming at Glenn and Pat's house. They are wonderful to allow us to go swimming anytime we are there. Samantha has been enjoying splashing in shallow water, but she really doesn't like being in water that she can't stand in. Kathy started blowing bubbles in the water, though, and Samantha thought that was hilarious. Before too much longer, she was taking turns with Kathy, putting her face in the water and blowing bubbles. Then she let Kathy take her from me, and she finally let go of the death grip on the adult holding her and let Kathy move her around in the water. Yeah Kathy!! Now we just need Kathy to move to The Colony to work with her regularly...hmmm...I somehow don't think that's going to happen.

On Saturday, we got the Slip and Slide out and Emma, Benjamin and Christopher had fun on it while Samantha took a nap. That afternoon, Staci and Kathy took the three older kids swimming again, then they came back to get ready for the party. Mom and dad threw a party for a bunch of there friends and boy did we have lots of yummy food! It was great to see everyone and talk to all of them, too.

The only thing I didn't manage was getting a picture of Samantha with all of her first cousins together. I guess we will just have to all get together again for that one.

We had a wonderful weekend and were sad to say goodbye on Sunday. Leaving is always so hard.

And here are a few pictures of the fun we had:

Dave cuddling the girls.



Emma and Samantha reading together.

Samantha making noises by moving her fingers against her lips.


Samantha trying on my shoes.


Samantha swimming with Aunt Kathy.


Benjamin and Christopher were very intent on the game they made up.


Kathy and Emma were so worn out from all the fun that they fell asleep on the couch.


Samantha was all worn out, too.