July 4th Weekend

Well another July 4th has come and gone. I really enjoy this holiday in Washington. I still can't believe they let anyone and everyone set off their own fireworks. I'm not talking about small ones either. Anyway, our day started off with the Ward pancake breakfast. It went smoothly and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. With that being said, I really hope I'm not putting on another Ward breakfast next year.

That evening we went to the Jackson's for some great food, swimming, socializing and of course fireworks. We took just a few pictures before our camera died, so no pictures of the actual fireworks...which were fantastic btw.

The next day, Mark's brother Brian and his family came for a visit. We had family dinner at our house, with Michael and Bekah too. It almost felt like Sunday dinners in Arizona.

The next day we took them to see Multnomah Falls and then the fish hatchery which is our favorite place to take visitors since it is free and not far away. So even though I've blogged about these places many times, I'm posting pictures anyway.

Brian, Erin, Porter and Hunter

Off to the fish hatchery to see Herman the Sturgeon...

who is this long.

Then we fed the fish.

Mark stole the camera to take some shots of the flowers and bees...

and captured this shot of a bee getting friendly with Lauren.

That afternoon we let the kids just play while the adults did some more catching up until the kids got stir crazy. We headed off to a park and played Frisbee. We ate dinner at Red Robbins and then played badminton in the backyard. Good times, good times...

Great backwards serve by Brian.

Almost a collision.

Erin always looks graceful...even during badminton.

Brian and Erin, thanks for taking a little detour down from Seattle to visit us too. We sure enjoyed having you here.