Happy 4th of July

I think the Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays (although Thanksgiving still ranks number one)! I just love it! It's all about warm weather, the beach, BBQ's, friends, family, summertime, good food, fireworks...I mean who wouldn't love it!

Our festivities began on Thursday when my friend, Lynleigh, invited us to the Air Force Base for the Freedom Festival. I decked Rian out in one of her four "4th of July outfits", this particular one courtesy of Bama Wendy, and off we went. When we first got there they were just starting the 'military police dog show'. We enthusiastically watched as the dogs continued time and time again to tackle the 'bad guy'. Then we enjoyed some free grub! I tried to take Rian to the bounce house, but there were too many older kids and she climbed out just as quickly as she climbed in! After the bounce house was a no-go, I tried to get her to stand in line for the clown, so she could get a balloon animal and her face painted. That was a no-go also :) Rian finally agreed to try another astro jump obstacle course thing, so we walked over to the line for that. This is where the picture was taken. She met a really nice girl in line, they even had their arms around each other at one point...too cute!! But seconds after I took this picture, the torrential downpour started and we ran for cover! The rain was coming down hard and our car was too far away, so we just waited it out (for a long time). Eventually it stopped, but it was too late, they were taking down the astro jumps. But even with all the rain, and Rian not really wanted to do any of the fun stuff, we still had a great time!

Matt had the day off on Friday, so we made some plans with our friends to head to the beach! We haven't been to the beach since we arrived back on the island, so Rian and I were very excited for this. We packed a picnic lunch and all our beach gear and headed out the door. I took this picture in the car on the way down. But as we drove further south, the sky turned dark and the downpour began again. However, Guam is known to have rainstorms one minute and blue skies the next, so we decided to continue on. It was still raining when we got to the beach so we backed our jeep up to our friend's SUV, and everyone hung out in the back of the two cars, which was actually kind of fun! We ate lunch and chit-chatted until the rain eventually stopped. Rian and I enjoyed the warm water while Daddy took a nap on the beach. Then, as promised, Daddy built sandcastles with Rian. Soon after they started though, the rain clouds returned and we packed up and left just in the knick of time! We were only able to hang out at the beach for probably two hours due to the rain and half of that time was spent in the car. But regardless of how long we were there, we still had a great time! We came home, showered, and cleaned up nicely so we could join a few friends for dinner at Proa. It was delicious! Good friends and good food, how could you go wrong?

On Saturday, I decked Rian out in another 'outfit' (this one courtesy of Bama Lois) and we had some friends over during the day for a BBQ, games, and Root Beer Floats and Red, White, and Blue Sundaes. We had a lot of fun, once again! Then we decided to take our chances and meet some other friends to watch the fireworks. Of course the downpour started once again as soon as we got into the car. The torrential downpour lasted about an hour so we waited it out in our car once again. When it finally let up, we had about an hour before the fireworks started. Luckily, we stayed dry the rest of the night!

I number the photo collage: 1-Our family waiting for the fireworks to begin.

2-Rian blowing her Fourth of July pinwheel. Bama Lois sent it out here and Rian loved it!

3-Rian jumping around.

4-Rian using her red, white, and blue wand (aka glowstick) to cast spells on everyone :)

5-Rian swinging her glowstick around in circles as the adults chat.

6-Rian smiling for the camera. Bama Lois (my mom) sent Rian some 4th of July jewelry along with the glowsticks and light up necklaces. Rian was all decked out!

7-Rian and Seth swinging the glowsticks! What fun!

8-The girls!