Four Winns: I'm having trouble controlling the VOLUME OF MY VOICE.

July was Charlotte's very first experience with fireworks. I'm pretty upset that we didn't take any video of the event because it turned out to be kind of hilarious. Charlotte was scared to death of the fireworks and cried nearly the whole time, unless my hands were firmly planted on her ears. After the show she would not stop telling us about the scary fireflies. Seriously, the conversation all the way home went something like this:

Charlotte: Daddy! DAAAAAAddy!

Jason: What?

Charlotte: Fireflies!

Jason: Fireflies?

Charlotte: Yeah.

Every ten seconds. And if you fail to confirm what she has said by repeating "fireflies?" then she continues to yell it (fireflies . . . fireflies! MOMMY, FIREFLIES!!!!!!!) until you do, then always replies with a simple, "yeah." We thought it was pretty hilarious until the 50th time and after that it became a little less charming.

A few days after the 4th we took a trip out to Utah to visit my family and attend Jason's family reunion at Bear Lake. We spent the first few days at my mom's house and played some baseball with my dad then headed to the lake.

Charlotte did not see the logic in giving this perfectly good bread to a bunch of ducks

Juliet and Grampa Rand playing ball

Charlotte is too good to swing so mostly we tried to bounce the ball off her bat

It had been a very long time since I'd been to Bear Lake and I did not remember the view of the lake being so spectacular. Thanks to Gramma Joyce we didn't have to rent a car, she loaned us hers. And thanks to Grampa Bruce and Gramma Nancy we didn't have to camp or sleep on the floor in a ski lodge. We were offered a room in their fancy cabin and happily accepted. We had a lovely time hanging out with cousins, eating shakes and playing ridiculous family reunion games. We even survived a crazy sand storm on the beach.

Someone found a snake and all the kids took a turn holding it

Ice cream sandwiches!

Adri met Hannah and Cadence, her long lost best friends

I guess he's playin' some game in the grass, I just thought his face was so cute

Juliet doing a craft with Taya

Gramma and Juliet spent so much time together the, by the end, we couldn't tell them apart.

Charlotte warms up to Grampa

We stopped at the scenic view right before we left.

There were about twenty humming birds flocking around these feeders. It was pretty nuts.

Once we got back to Gramma Joyce's, Jason's cousins asked our girls if they wanted to dress up and be in a Pioneer Day parade. I thought they meant a bunch of kids just marching around the neighborhood. Little did I know his cousins have set up shop as princesses who entertain kids at parties and they had a float in a local parade. Adri and Juliet willing obliged, were dolled up and sent on their way. They are now experts at waving at people and were very happy to see their cousins again. Luke and Charlotte were satisfied to sit and watch with Mom and Dad.