the 4th!

we spent the 4th of july weekend at my parent's house! saturday night I went with my sister and brother in law to his family's 4th of july celebration. his family is the definiton of country. they're all so friendly and whenever they get together I feel like I'm going to a high school party. it's just so much fun. we spent the night watching kiddos play and devour piece after piece of watermelon, people take turns 4-wheeling and doing crazy stunts, dave's older brother jamie get everyone going with his karaoke skills, and watching the guys set off some pretty sweet fireworks. all while drinking beer and eating tons of awesome food. by the end of the night my sister and I were huddled together drinking red wine out of red plastic party cups while chowing down on a bag of sour cream and onion chips.

in my last post I mentioned that I was going to make 4th of july strawberries. they were super fun to make. everyone wanted a turn dipping, swirling, and making strawberry goodness. kingston was napping when we made them so I'm excited for next year when he can help out!

I kind of slacked at taking pictures this weekend. basically all I got was pictures of kingston in his pool. shooooot. I suck. I also really need to start getting myself in pictures but people are scared to pick up my camera so I'm going to have to figure this out somehow because this is my blog so I should probably be in some of the pictures. amIright?! onward to pool pictures...

(the view from my parent's house - I was peeking at all the happy tubers down by the river,
jealous I didn't get to do any tubing over the weekend. bummer!)

I spent a good amount of time tonight catching up on everyone's 4th of july weekends and other posts that I've missed over the last few days. it feels good to be back home, caught up with things I enjoy and just be able to relax on the couch and read the hunger games. I finished the first book in a day and let me tell you, I'm addicted. I pretty much CAN NOT WAIT until the movie comes out. I bet it's going to be awesome.

oh and, have I mentioned that tomorrow we'll be ONE WEEK away from leaving to  go to california to visit duane's fam? I'm sooo excited!

friday favorites: 4th of july

sometimes I wonder how the heck some of my favorite bloggers can post every single day (or even 3-4 times a week). don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE that they post as much as they do because I adore their blogs and get all giddy when I see a new post. I just can't keep up. I feel like I just posted my friday favorites and BOOM, it's friday again, and I'm in need of some favorite things. I blame being a mama. ever since kingston arrived time has absolutely, without a doubt flown by. it's crazy and sad all at the same time.

duane has to work this weekend which is a huge bummer because 1) he always works and 2) I really wanted him to celebrate this weekend with the fam. the 4th of july is one of my favorite holidays (nothing tops christmas), has been since I was little. it means summer, yummy food, lots of drinking and celebrating with friends and family, tubing on the river, being outside all day, getting a tan, wearing "nautical" clothing, sparklers, and FIREWORKS. I get excited just thinking about it. I plan to take my dslr AND point and shoot cameras with me this weekend in hopes of capturing everythiiiing.

so, in honor of my (2nd) favorite holiday...

the perfect one-piece

"sailing into the sunset" dress

4th of july strawberries (I'm definitely making these!)

brownie & berries dessert



pretty, pretty fireworks

sparklers!

my little firework, one year ago ♥

have a great 4th of july weekend, friends. enjoy it!