We went to my brother’s house for a barbecue and fun for the Fourth of July. His house is in the country and is a really old fixer-upper farmhouse in the midst of complete and total renovation, but is still a really neat place! (I cannot wait to see how it turns out when he’s done!)

The kids all played and scampered around the yard. To keep the kids busy and happy, my sister brought little wooden birdhouses and paints for the kids to each decorated their own. Alex got out her softball gear and started up some fun. Not a game with base running, but the fun came in people batting. She pitched a lot, she caught a lot and she batted a lot.

After dinner, bubbles were brought out and even Alex got into the bubble blowing spirit…

…for a while anyway, then it was back to softball! At least she got some good practice in!

The other kids kept asking if it was time to light fireworks, but we needed to wait until it got dark. The sun finally started to set:

And glow sticks, bracelets, and a neat-o glow ball came out. Then the fireworks came out. We didn’t have a lot, but the kids had fun with sparklers and watching these:

On our way home, we saw plenty of big fireworks going off in the sky. Someday, I will bring my tripod along and get better photos…someday.

I hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July, or Happy Independence Day, or a Happy Friday!!!