Fun during July 4

What a fun weekend we had! Every 4th of July that I can remember, we pack up with our boat and head to the Upstate to spend time with family and friends on Hartwell Lake. This year, we decided to take advantage of the fact that we have our own water to play on. Ruthie, Uncle Matthew, and Holly came here to hang out with us for a few days. What a wonderful time we had! Kamdyn was thrilled to have so many people to entertain her.

We started our adventure on Wednesday afternoon with a boat ride. After our boat ride, Ruthie graciously kept Kamdyn while the four of us went to dinner at The Cotton Patch by boat.


Hanging out with Uncle Matthew.


Chuggin' with Uncle Matthew. Uncle's "juice" and Kamdyn's juice. :)




Thursday morning started off kind of crazy. Kamdyn had gotten a splinter stuck in the bottom of her foot from the deck. Ruthie noticed it Wednesday night, but need reinforcements to help her get it out. So, Richard had to hold her down as she kicked and screamed as I attempted to remove the splinter with tweezers. We saved ourselves a trip to the doctor after I was finally able to remove it. Then, she went for a walk with Ruthie and fell and skinned both of her knees and hands. Last, she dropped Ruthie's snow globe that Matthew had given her. It busted into a million pieces. What a way to start the day!! Sorry about your snow globe, Ruthie! :(

After that rough start we finally made our way to the boat for lunch at The Boll Weevil. Kamdyn also got to have some fun at the park. We played outside at the house with Kamdyn that afternoon after naptime. Chalk, bubbles, and the ball consumed our time. Then, we grilled out Thursday night. Richard made some fabulous BBQ chicken. Uncle Matthew got his mouth set on fire with a habanero pepper that Richard grew. YIKES!! I bet he won't fall for Richard's "it's not that hot" line again. Uncle Matthew had ice for dessert. The rest of us enjoyed Key Lime Pie. :)

Let's go, Daddy, Uncle, and Holly!



Checking out the fire ants.


Catching bubbles with Ruthie.


"Playing" golf with Daddy. Better watch out,
Kamdyn! FOUR!!!


Oops! What happened, Kamdyn?



On Friday, we ventured over to RiverBlast in Augusta by boat again while Kamdyn was napping. It's a festival that they have over there that is completely free. We've never been here to check it out so we decided to see what it was about. It was pretty neat. It is definitely something that we will take Kamdyn to next year. There were lots of rides, slides, jumpy things, etc. for her. Then, we had lunch at Beamies. We went back to our dock to see what Kamdyn and Ruthie were up to. I enjoyed some "sun" time on the boat, something that I never get to do anymore as evidenced by my lily white body. :) Ruthie left around 6:00 or so. The rest of us got ready for the fireworks display on the 5th Street bridge. We took the boat out and enjoyed some Papa John's pizza. We didn't know how Kamdyn would do because they didn't start until 9:30. Her bedtime is usually around 8:00. Surprisingly, she did GREAT! She really enjoyed them. She's never seen fireworks before and this was definitely the show to take her to. Usually we see the fireworks at the Straup's house that they actually make themselves. They are always wonderful!!! However, this fireworks display was truly amazing. They even had it set to music played on WBBQ. The timing to the music was unbelievable! Kamdyn crashed when she finally made it to her bed around 10:30.

Playtime before RiverBlast. Thanks, Ruthie, for the
pink 4th of July t-shirt.




I can hardly see your face. The hats are shading you!
This was on our way back from RiverBlast.


So, they both look up! Goofies!!



Ruthie put Kamdyn's hair in an adorable ponytail!


Waiting on the fireworks to start.


Thanks, Pop Pop, for Kamdyn's red 4th of July
t-shirt. You can hardly see it because of the life
jacket.



Still waiting.....she's getting impatient now!! Can
you tell???


Looking at the fireworks as they started.


Kamdyn kept saying, "Wow! Awesome!"
She was adorable!


Check out the shower of fireworks falling from the bridge.
It was so neat!


Kamdyn started slowing down towards the ends.
She was about to fall asleep in her Daddy's arms.