The 4th

I LOVED the 4th of July this year!  LOVED LOVED LOVED! 
Chad was off on this holiday which is a total rarity!  We spent the day with family and friends at my parents' house. We went to their house around noon and my dad had made some hotdogs and a pot of his homemade chili. 

I love my dad's chili.  No, really, I love my dad's chili!  I can remember being pregnant with Caleigh and having an aversion to red meat (steaks, hamburger meat,etc) and I wanted my dad to make me some of his chili but without the meat and beans.  HA.  Pretty impossible but I think that shows just how much I love his chili. 

Anyways, we ate some lunch and then hit the pool.  The sun was hot and the pool was cool!  It couldn't have been more refreshing!  We spent the entire afternoon in the pool. 

When her mommy made her get out of the pool, Shelby pressed herself up to the glass watching everyone else swim and longed to get back in with the rest of us!

A plethora of snacks, dips, fruits, candies, cookies, cakes, and popsicles were grazed on throughout the day.

Right next to the pool was a smoker that had been going since 6am with two large pork roasts in it.  The smell was absolutely intoxicating!  We salivated as we swam!  When dinner time came, we delved into smoked pork with my dad's own concoction BBQ sauce, potato salad, deviled and boiled eggs, baked beans, and the house staple, mac & cheese.  MMMM, so very, very good!

After dinner, it was back into the pool until the sun went down.  Georgia summer nights are sunlit until at least 9:30!

Then, as per tradition, we made our way to the end of the driveway to watch the guys in the family shoot off some small fireworks.  There were no sparklers for the little ones this year since they are all mostly scared of them.  Instead, my brilliant mom got flag glow sticks!  They were a big hit!  And, when one leaked, we had goo glowing on the concrete and on clothes.  LOL! 

 Shelby was one sleepy girl.

Caleigh HATED the fireworks this year!  She screamed and shook with fright pretty much the entire time.  The past few years she has loved them, so I am not really sure what the deal was this year with them.  I think she got spooked by them at the wedding she was in earlier this year.  Despite the screams, we still all had a very good time being together, swimming, playing, and eating some really great food.  It was one awesome day and Caleigh took all of the next day to recouperate from the festivites!