Happy Fourth of July!

Every year on the Fourth of July Holiday, my family goes on vacation. It started as just my immediate family and then extended to my mom's family...my aunt, uncle, and all my cousins. We go to Caney Lake in Chatham, LA and have a blast! I mean, you have to realize that my small little family has turned into this LARGE family and I love every minute of it. Granted, it doesn't compare to Rob's family on his mom's side (he has 36 first cousins!- not including spouses), but for me, this is BIG! It started with just the 5 of us, then with our spouses, that makes 10, and the next generation has 11 so far. Cameron will be #12! It is so much fun and all the kids LOVE the "Cousin Party" every 4th of July! This year, we had to get special permission from the doctor for me to go, but since I have had no problems throughout my pregnancy, and Cameron is not making any signs of coming early so far, she let us go. I am now "grounded" until he gets here, but that's ok. At least I got to enjoy the Fourth! Here are just a few pics of our crazy weekend.

The girls and I started Thursday night by making 6 dozen cupcakes. Natalie decorated the ones above...yellow cake with chocolate icing, red & blue sprinkles, and red pinwheels! Emilee and I did the ones below. Emilee did the red velvet cake with white cream cheese icing and blue sprinkles (get it...red, white & Blue). I did the chocolate cake with white icing and red and blue sprinkles. They didn't all turn out very pretty, but they sure were YUMMY!!!

Every year, the lake puts on a HUGE firework show. So, we all pile into the various boats and head out to the middle of the lake to watch. Since I couldn't do much, Rob and I opted for the party barge this year since it is a much smoother ride.

Fireworks!

They were beautiful!

My cousin Ginger, her husband Tim, Rob and me. As you can see, we go comfy to watch the fireworks!

Me & Ginger- this is pretty much the only time of year we get to see each other, so we love it! We have always been close. We share a birthday and even though we are several years apart in age, we still get along great!

We spent a lot of time fishing too! Emilee found a spot right off the pier at my parent's house where the fish would bite almost as soon as the hook was in the water. This is what we caught mostly, but Rob did manage to catch 2 catfish and a turtle as well!

My Dad's BIG catch!

Natalie spent most of the time fishing with my nephews Lightning McQueen fishing pole, but it worked great!

It has also become a family tradition to take red, white, and blue family pictures every year. We are actually the only family that did it this year, but I couldn't pass it up. I love these pics!

Me with my three kids! :-)

Rob and his baby girls...too bad they are getting so BIG! They grow up so fast!

Natalie and I even decorated our toes for the 4th! We LOVE painting our toes...and the crazier the better. Although I can't see my toes right now, it was fun having them all decked out!

Me and Ladybug (my parent's dog- she started as mine in college, but when we had to move back in with them, they wouldn't let me take her when I left again. It was only fair, I moved to an apartment and they have a huge yard for her to play in. She is now very spoiled rotten!

Emilee & Natalie on one of the tubes. The kids never stopped. The boats and jet skis were always going. I think they had sensors on. If they were asleep or inside, someone could say "go" and they would come out of the woodwork to jump in the boats! They both came home bruised and scraped up, so it must have been successful! :-)

Rob bought the "kids" this water balloon sling-shot. I know he really bought it for him and my brother Casey. The kids had a blast shooting at the boats, people in the water, and people on the deck. Thankfully nobody got hurt! The sling shot is supposed to shoot several hundred feet and I know they tried!

Since I wasn't able to go on the boats much, I spent a lot of time floating in the water. Ginger and her daughter Delaney kept me company out there! I opted for noodles this year to help keep me and Cameron afloat!

Then we had family swim time!

The girls chillin' on the dock with their cousin Gracie

The sunrise view from the pier at my parents lakehouse- Rob and the girls got up early on Monday to do some fishing before we took the boat out

Then, trying to get some pics for the lakehouse...Emilee, Wyatt, Walker, and Natalie

Isn't this precious!?! All their cute feet hanging off the pier. Next year, there will be another little pair of feet!

We took a few boat rides around the lake...this is Emilee, Natalie, and their cousin Delaney

We had such a great time! I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth of July and took a few minutes to remember what the day stands for. Remember all of our troops, past and present who have and still are fighting for our freedom!

Happy Independance Day!!!