Fourth of July

Fourth of July found us waking up early once again to get up and going to Soda Springs.  Also, as a side not, Mark had to work the ENTIRE reunion.  Boo.  Luckily he got to be with us at night but we definitely missed getting to have him share in the memories with us.  

I piled the kiddos into the car and we headed on over.  My kids look forward to the parade in Soda SO MUCH!  It is definitely one of their ultimate highlights!  They could not wait.  And the parade did not disappoint.  They got loaded up on WAY too much candy and had an awesome time.  Ben was not a fan of the sirens at the beginning but I think even he was enjoying it by the end.  

After the parade we headed over to the park and walked around a little bit and then headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Clegg's.  I love getting to just relax in their backyard and catch up with family.

After lunch I drove over to Grace with my Mom and Sarah to visit the family buried there.  When we came back, Ben and Sarah took a nap with Gramps and I took Jacob down to the shooting range.  

I didn't grow up shooting guns at all.  My Grandpa Moldenhauer took me out once when I was maybe ten-ish but that was all.  In college I took a class that required me to take a hunter education class and I discovered I was a pretty decent shot and I do enjoy shooting targets.  Going shooting seems to be a rising Fourth of July tradition though on the Clegg side.  We have never gone before but Jacob and I thought we would tag along.  

I must admit I was a little nervous about how to do it with Jacob.  I first thought that we would sit back and just watch but I also kind of wanted to give him a talk.  We don't have any guns in our house either (but our street is absolutely loaded!  As are probably most homes where we live!) and I feel like taking the curiosity out of it helps eliminate a lot of problems and I wanted Jacob to have a good understanding of it.  There is no one that could have done a better job of that then my Uncle Jim.  He is a former marine who loves to build guns and is great with Jacob.  He took Jacob aside and showed him and really explained everything in such a perfect way.  I was so grateful to him for doing that - especially since Mark wasn't there.  

Seeing your barely turned six year old holding a gun was a little unnerving.  I was a jumble of emotions inside!  But Jacob really enjoyed it and I think it was actually a really good experience for him. 

Afterwards we went back and got Sarah and Benjamin and then headed over to Grandma Dixie's house.  We love going and spending time with her.  It never seems like there is enough time.  The kiddos had a blast playing with all of her toys, helping make the homemade root beer, and sorting through the fireworks. 

Sadly, Benjamin got REALLY done though.  The poor little guy was tired and crashed loud and hard.  Once I finally got him down I realized that I was not feeling very well at all myself.  I kind of gave myself a little time out for awhile and luckily there was plenty to keep Jacob and Sarah occupied.  

The fireworks were unbelievable this year.  Melina really went for it and put on quite the show.  The whole town just seemed to erupt in fireworks that I felt totally okay with leaving at 10:00 (when the city fireworks started) because we had quite the show already.  The kiddos all crashed hard on the drive home after a fun-filled day.