4th of July Goodies

Y'all know I couldn't let a holiday pass by without sharing some fun craft, food and decorating ideas!

4th of July is a favorite holiday in our house for so many reasons...

First and most importantly, we have many family members and close friends who have served in the military, protecting our freedom, and we feel it's very important to recognize that. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have their family members return from war, and we want our kids to realize the cost of freedom that some people have paid is very high. We feel it's very important for our children to understand that 4th of July is not just about cookouts and fireworks.

If you'd like to join us in explaining the importance of this holiday to your children, here are some great links:

• Grandparents.com does an excellent job of hitting up all the historic elements of this holiday.

• KidsKonnect.com helps by putting things into language that kids can clearly understand.

• Parents.com  takes a little bit of a different angle by teaching children why America is so great and why we love our country.

• EnchantedLearning  offers a free printable activity book along with lots of other simple 4th of July crafts for all ages.

Another reason I love 4th of July is the food. I love American food (I also love Italian, Mexican, Japanese and Chinese and Thai and... nevermind.) But seriously, who doesn't love a great burger or dog hot off the grill served with crispy chips, cold potato salad or coleslaw... makes my mouth water just thinking about it!

So if you're hosting a get together this 4th, or want to bring a dish to a party you're attending, here are some very easy dishes with lots of patriotic flair:

Simply Kierste knocks it out of the park with these adorable fruit trifles served with lemon cream sauce.

I love the idea of serving this flag-inspired taco-dip as an appetizer with a bucket of cold beer or a big pitcher of fruit-infused iced tea.

A very easy and refreshing side dish would be this blueberry, strawberry & watermelon fruit salad. Add feta cheese for more of a "red, white and blue" theme.

There are tons of 4th of July-themed ice cream desserts if you search Pinterest, but they all look a bit complicated if you ask me. I like this idea... just take store-bought ice cream sandwiches and let them sit on the counter for a few minutes until the ice cream is softened, then dip each side into a shallow dish of red, white & blue sprinkles. Stick em back into the freezer until dessert time, and Voila! 

Of course there are a gazillion adorable decor and craft ideas for the 4th, but these caught my eye this year...

Whenever we break out the sparklers for the kids, they burn through them at a rate of about 2 per minute. I love this idea of opening up all the boxes and setting them out so that the kids can run back and grab another one while you just have to sit in a chair with a lighter ready to assist them. 

How cute is this DIY Sparkler Station from My Sweet Savannah?

I've seen this idea floating around Pinterest and Instagram for a while now and I think I'm going to have to make it next year. It would be adorable on a 4th of July buffet table.

If you've never made tissue paper "poufs" before, please give it a try. It's SO easy, I promise! I've made them several times for different parties and even though they're a cinch to make, they add a huge statement to party decor. Here's a good photo tutorial, but there are tons of  how-to videos on YouTube as well.

Last but not least, if you are looking for a cute hostess gift (beyond a bouquet of white flowers tied with a beautiful red, white & blue wired ribbon), these confetti wine glasses are an adorable idea!

The full step-by-step instructions are available here, but really it's just a regular wine glass (I would recommend non-breakable if you can find them) covered in dots painted with acrylic paint using a Q-tip. How easy is that? 

Whatever you're doing this 4th of July, I hope you stay safe and celebrate our country's freedom surrounded by family & friends. A special thank you to all of the Veterans and current military personnel out there. We are free because of the brave. Thank you.

4th of July Recap

You are probably expecting this post to be filled with cute pictures of my children in their matching red, white and blue t-shirts, holding sparklers and enjoying fireworks.

But you won't be seeing any of that in this post. Because my parents took the boys for the entire 4th of July weekend and Brian and I had the chance to just chill by ourselves.

It was still a weekend filled with sparklers and fireworks, but definitely a lot different experience when you don't have your little ones there to "Ooo and Ahhh" over every colorful explosion.

But first, let me back up a bit...

Thursday night, July 3rd, we decided to set off some leftover New Year's Eve fireworks with our neighbors. Parker carried the bag around with him all evening until it was finally dark enough to set them off.

Our neighbor's back yard, just before a storm rolled through earlier in the evening.

Parker inspecting the fireworks bag. I think he would have climbed inside of it if he fit.

Parker and our neighbor, Cameron, watching the bottle rockets.

Our neighbor, Dave, setting off the fireworks in the street.

The kids watching from the back of the car. They loved it!

Then, early Friday morning, July 4th, we met my parents and my brother, his wife and their son, Joel, at the World's Largest McDonald's on I-Drive in Orlando. The place is half restaurant, half Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. There are tons of arcade games, a huge play area with tunnels, and even a mini bowling alley! The kids had a ball playing while the adults chatted.

Apparently, the "kids" weren't the only ones who enjoyed the arcade games. ;)

So once we finished breakfast and kissed everyone goodbye, we all headed out in separate directions... my parents with all three kids (our two, plus my nephew Joel) went back to their house, my brother and his wife went house hunting, and Brian and I headed back to Tampa... with a quick stop at the Orlando outlet malls.

In celebration of the 4th, I ordered a fancy watermelon margarita at lunch. Because when it's an American holiday and you have no kids with you, it just seems like the right thing to do!

And then we went to a 4th of July celebration at a local harbor that had live music, tons of food/product vendors and more people watching that anyone could ask for!

A view of the boardwalk where we watched fireworks that evening.

Lots of happy folks enjoying the 4th. You can see the band stage in the background.

Just chillin.

Obligatory "selfie" on the pier.

Then a quick rain shower came through, which didn't deter people one bit. Most folks just went under one of the many picnic shelters and then once the rain died down, everyone went right back to their seats. And then this beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky!

The fireworks were stunning!

 It was a wonderful, relaxing 4th of July.

The next day we enjoyed a very lazy morning, did some work around the house, ran errands, and then went to meet some friends at a local marina for dinner.

It was so nice to have a weekend to ourselves. We relished every minute of sleeping in, watching non-cartoon shows on TV, not paying a babysitter, and quietness... but I also missed my boys so much.

We were very happy to have our little guys home on Sunday evening.

I hope you had wonderful 4th of July and that you are enjoying your summer. The next several weeks are full of travel and family fun for us, so I won't be very visible around here. Enjoy the rest of your summer and be safe!

4th of July {Ideas, Recipes & Free Printables}

I can hardly believe 4th of July is one week away! Where did June go!?!

I made the mistake of hopping on Pinterest to find an easy 4th of July craft to do with the kiddos and man did I hit the mutha-load of good ideas!

I mean, how great is this:

 

SUCH a smart idea for the tiny tots who want to participate in the sparkler fun, but are a bit freaked out to actually hold one themselves. I will definitely be trying this with Parker.

And if you're hosting a party or going to one, and need to bring something, check out these simple ideas:

Photo credit

Photo credit

 Photo credit.

Or maybe you're looking for some fun house or party decor? Here ya go...

Available here.

Available here.

How great is this FREE 4th of July banner and artwork available here along with many other party printables.

 And one of my favorite bloggers, TomKat Studios, has some beautiful cupcake toppers that you can download for free. These would also be cute during the World Cup USA games!

 

And of course, my original purpose of going on Pinterest in the first place...some cute kids crafts! Check these out:

Instructions available here.

Photo credit.

And if I had a girl...this is the kind of t-shirt I would be making...

 

And if you're willing to get a little messy (I'm thinking bathing suits...outside...with washable paints), you could let the kids loose with this super fun idea:

 Straw "Fireworks"

 The child dips the end of a straw into red, white & blue paint and then blows on the straw to make "fireworks" on the paper.

 

 

I hope these give you some fun 4th ideas. Be safe and have a fabulous time celebrating our awesome nation...the land of the free and home of the brave!

4th of July Vacation

Our 4th of July vacation at the river once again proved to be a wonderful mix of patriotic kid-filled excitement mixed with lots of quiet, peaceful moments that only this little slice of heaven can provide.

We kicked off the trip on Wednesday afternoon with the 3-hour car ride to our friend's beautiful vacation home on the St. John's River. Parker was asleep about 5 minutes into the car ride and took a nice long nap, while Payton stayed busy with books, games and a very dirty (e.g. potty words) version of Mad Libs. Needless to say, the drive went very quickly.

The minute we arrived, we let the kids run out on to the beautiful wooden dock that overlooks nothing but the serene beauty of the river with lush nature preserve as the backdrop.

Oh... and we may have cracked open our first celebratory 4ht of July beer while we were out there as well...

The weekend was jam-packed with boating, tubing, playing at the sandbar, and even a special ride on some of the neighbor's wave runners!

One, two, three... jump!

Parker taking a pretend tube ride on our friend's back.

My little boat lover.

The big kids loved tubing!

One of many awesome family moments.

Two peas in a pod!

Parker going for his first wave runner ride. He LOVED it!

Then it was big brother's turn. He also had a fabulous time. Sorry for the "behind" shot.

And when we weren't out on the boat, we were enjoying some good ol fashioned fun like:

Red Neck Golf...

Turns out Payton is quite good at it!

 Fishing off the dock and watching all the beautiful wildlife...

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 Eating watermelon, homemade ice cream, home made strawberry shortcake, and just about every other traditional American food you can imagine...

 And real, skillet fried bacon. Lots of bacon...

 And some great cuddle time with my little guy...

On the actual 4th of July, we had planned to go to a huge fireworks show, but as most Floridians experienced, it was cancelled due to rain.

So we created our own version of kid-friendly fireworks using sparklers, Morning Glories and glow bracelets. The kids had a ball!

We were all decked out with patriotic tatoos.

Sparklers never disappoint!

 

  All was well and good until I insisted that Parker hold a sparkler with all the kids for a "cute" picture. Umm...apparently he's not such a fan of sparklers. He screamed bloody murder and then insisted on going inside.

Not my best parenting moment.

So, I took him inside, gave him a nice long hot bath and put him in his cute 4th of July jammies.

All was forgiven. :)

On Friday afternoon, he headed back to Tampa. And little man was so tired, he slept almost the entire car ride (thank God).

We were welcomed home by a very happy little bunny who missed his rambunctious family...I'm sure of it. She's been super affectionate since we got home, so I think she missed us.

 

We had a fantastic 4th of July vacation and we are so grateful to our amazing, generous friends who make these kinds of trips possible. Thank you so much!!

Hope everyone else had a great 4th too!

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I'm taking the kids on another mini vacation this week, while Brian mans the fort at home. So, this is likely my only post for the week. 

However, I have some fun ideas cookin' for later this month including:

• A new "Favorite Things" list
• A couple new super easy recipes for the summer including my favorite roasted asparagus with Parmesan
• A "How To" guide to setting up a successful lemonade stand for your kiddos

So, stayed tuned!