July 4th

Every outside holiday is usually hosted at our house because we have a great outdoor area for entertaining as well as a swimming pool.  This year was no different, but held a little more "specialness" because Max is older and I thought he would really be able to have a good time with his cousins outside and just get to run around and be a crazy little boy for a while.  Mother nature, however, had other plans for our outside party this year. 
 Of course, if you were in St. Louis that Sunday you would know it was stormy and rainy (as a side note here: Mother Nature has had it out for my parties all year so far.  On Maxsen's first birthday she decided to make it snow, almost cancelling the party) so the party was moved inside.  Not the ideal situation, but we coped and Hubby BBQ'd in the rain.  My house has never reached the decibel level that was achieved on Sunday July 3rd and there were only 3 kids with ages in the single digits. WOW is all I can say.  Here are some pictures



Saw this on a blog and decided it was a must for my party.  Super easy to make!



Max and his cousin who is about a year older




Max and Grandma




uh-oh! Kissing cousins!




My mom is really into making cake pops!  They are delish.  These were carrot cake





When we went outside for fireworks, this is what the sky looked like