Sprinklers and Sparklers

Six years ago this July 4th, Josh and I hosted a little get together so that our parents could meet each other before we got married nineteen days later.  My family has gotten together in some fashion every July fourth since, making this year the seventh year that we've carried on the tradition.  A lot sure has changed in the last six years, most being the slug of grandkids that have joined us from both sides of the family....with more on the way (and no, not from me)!  We sure had a lot of fun and made a lot of memories this year, as you hopefully will be able to see from the pictures below:

First it was the food....

Five of the six grandkids that were with us for the day: on the left is, front to back, Sarah Rose (2), Emma (1), Abigail (3); on the right is Caleb and Jocelyn, both 4. 

And the big peoples:  my parents are on the left and the Van Zantes are on the right.



And the itty bitty, Izella (8 months), napping under the shade tree.

 And then it was the sprinklers and pool....


After the good eats, we started the pool party.  The five "older" kids really enjoyed playing in the water.  My kids and I had to wait until an evening when Josh got done early enough to take us in the truck to buy the pool, seeing as how the pool wouldn't fit in the car.  Two headboards, yes.... on kid sized pool, no.




And of course we had the water slide going.  Caleb loves to be thrown by his feet down the slide.  You'll see how the girls are thrown down the slide on another post to come soon!



That's a lot of little piggies swimming in the water there!



And we ALWAYS have to have a towel handy for those pesky little water drops that just INSIST on getting in their eyes and running down their noses.



I love this picture and how Sarah Rose is trying to jump over the water Jocelyn is pouring on her feet and down the slide.  And little Emma is in the background, doing her own thing with the slide, while Caleb is in the foreground drenching Abigail with a bucket of water.  We had a busy, busy yard!



Josh holding Caleb back by his shorts... I guess Daddy felt he had to cause a little mischief before he went back to mowing and chopping oats.



Whenever anyone went over to the drink table, they had an immediate following of young'uns wanting pop. 

Joshua raising a cold one.  Whatever could he be toasting?  Family?  Weather?  Not getting dunked in the pool?  The holiday? Whatever it was, it was with Mountain Dew, as we are a 100% alcohol free family, thanks much!



Group shot!




Uh...a  little help, please?







Thank you!





Abigail was challenged by her father (my brother, Adam) to stand in the middle of the wild and crazy sprinklers that we set up.  And she DID IT!!!  None of the other kids were brave enough to try!




Go, Jocelyn, Go! 
Jocelyn's teaching Caleb that she can swing that noodle as good as he was earlier in the afternoon.  A good lesson in what goes around is sure to come around!

 And then it was the sparklers...


Waiting with great anticipation for "The Great Todd-Van Zante Spectacular Sparkler Show" to begin.  In the middle of the day.  With the bright sun shining.  Brightly. 
The shade of our huge tree was the best we could do to set off how amazingly bright these sparklers were sure to be!




I thought we were going to light the sparklers one by one and stick them in the ground so the kids could watch them, possibly letting the older kids hold one if they could get their nerve up.  BUT Adam, being the King of Brilliant Ideas, had a better idea than my original.  Take a box (or a box and a half) of sparklers, light them all at once and then one by one, carefully pull them apart  (while lighted!) and stick them in the ground.  Such a time saver, right?



Well, it WOULD have been a time saver had the things, being now fueled by 7 or 8 times the sparkle power as just an individual sparkler, didn't burn up so fast that he couldn't pull them apart quick enough to get stuck in the ground.



If you ever see Adam around, ask him how hot a handful of lighted sparklers can get.  Or how fast they burn up. Or if he'll ever do THAT again!




So we resorted to Aunt Manda's boring, original, actually-get-the-sparklers-to-sparkle-awhile method... 




...which held absolutely no one's attention except the mothers' wanting to make sure we got all the hot sticks out of the ground before bare toes reached them.  There goes Emma, just walking on by not even stopping to take a glance regardless of the pleas that Adam and I were making for one of the little ones to puh-lease stop and look at all the effort we put in to making "The Great Todd-Van Zante Spectacular Sparkle Show" a success!



And no Fourth of July celebration is complete without a little tug-o-war competition.  Jocelyn, Abby and Caleb vs. Baby Ford.  There wasn't a mud pit in between them, but I'm sure there was a pie or two ;-)