American Cutie!

We had a lot of fun this 4th of July weekend! As I am sure most parents understand, everyday with Lila is more and more enjoyable! She truly is a pleasure to be around and cracks us up all the time. She is always along for the ride and adapts so well to all situations.

We took off early Saturday morning for Guttenberg...fun, sun and the river! We got up there around 10:00 and immediately laid Lila down for her nap so she would be refreshed for an afternoon on the boat! She woke up, had some lunch and we wasted no time to get out on the water. Once again, she was a pro! She didn't raise a fuss about having her life jacket on and even wanted to wear her sun hat and sunglasses to complete the look!

Pre boating karaoke session...a tribute to Michael Jackson!

UV Protected!

Daddy's River Rat!

It got pretty toasty on the water and she kept trying to climb over the railing to get to her Daddy in the water, so we decided that it was time to "get the river in her!" -- a phrase my family uses! Not that we were worried...Lila has proven that she loves any kind of water as long as she can splash and kick!

After the afternoon on the water we headed back to the cabin to get cleaned up. We had family over for dinner and some fun in the yard! Mike and I took the golf cart around the island and Lila ended up taking a snooze...much needed as it was going to be a long night! When she woke up she had a little time on the trampoline with Grandpa, Mike, Celia & Ruby. We should have known better, trampolines are nothing for a little one like Lila to play on. She ended up tumbling off the trampoline, lucky for all of us, she was 100% okay and ended up doing a somersault off the edge so it made for a softer landing and she essentially landed on her rear. It was literally like a bad movie...slow motion...I ended up having to walk away as I really thought I might get sick. Talk about a parent's worst nightmare...I know there are many more of those moments to come, unfortunately. Thank goodness she was okay.

To wrap the night up we took the boats back out to watch the fireworks! What a beautiful sight! Lila didn't know what to think of them at first because they were so loud, but within a few minutes she was "ooooh-ing" and "aaaah-ing" just like a pro! It was super cute! I absolutely love fireworks, so I was thrilled to share that experience with her and have her enjoy them as well!

Celia and Uncle Mike watching the show

Sunday morning we got up and headed back to town for our 4th of July tradition of hanging out with the Holub's and the Hahn's! Traditionally we head downtown to watch the fireworks, but the past few years the fireworks were displaced due to the flood. They were rescheduled this year to happen back downtown, so our intentions were to get together and hang out all day and then head downtown to the fireworks. Well, notice I said our intentions...mother nature had a different idea. It rained almost all day! So, our plans changed a bit, but we still hung out at the Holub's enjoying each other's company, good food and celebrating our independence with our families!

Fading fast!

Creating our own light show!

I do love the 4th of July. I love that the nation comes together and for at least one day, most everyone recognizes how incredibly lucky we are to live in the land of the free! We are all so blessed to have the thousands of soldiers that risk their lives for us everyday in order for us to have those freedoms. And to all of those before us that fought for our freedoms and all of those that will in the future, we thank you!