fun family fourth :: 4th of july.

july 4th fell on a wednesday this year, and since jason was off, it was a very welcomed break in the middle of the week. we decided to take advantage of the free day and pack up the explorer to head to the fort worth zoo. the fort worth zoo happens to have 1/2 price admission days on wednesdays, so it was a perfect treat! ;)

our original plan was to head out early so we could make it to the zoo when it opened to beat the heat. but, as is usual for our little family, that didn't happen. we had a nice morning and didn't rush, which was nice and stress-free. :) my mom got the girls some precious 4th of july outfits from gymboree, including sweet stars & stripes dresses and matching red cowgirl hats & boots! {the girls haven't taken them off yet!}

we stopped at chili's on our way for lunch, where the girls got lots of attention for their unbelievable cuteness. :) it was at chili's that i made a life-changing discovery... emma kate asked for broccoli as her side dish for lunch. broccoli. apparently, my 5-year-old has a love for something super green and healthy! (i'd like to say it's because i'm mom of the year and serve her broccoli all the time, but i'm actually not really sure where this came from... maybe her veggie-love will rub off on her daddy...)

the zoo was relatively busy, but not crazy. we really enjoyed all the exhibits. i especially loved watching the chimpanzees! they're such amazing creatures... really move around and behave like furry humans. :) there was a momma chimp with a new baby, and it was so neat to see how the mother-child relationship is so universal across not only cultures, but also species! i know it's small, but i tried to capture some of our moments with the chimps in this video:

i tried really hard to get some sweet pictures of the girls in their outfits, but none of them really turned out as great as i'd hoped. :) here are some pics from our day at the zoo:

rylie girl before leaving
{please excuse my messy bedroom floor}

our pretty cool ride. :) 

heading into the zoo
rylie already needs a nap. awesome. 

silly & sleepy

checking out the rhino

rylie was so interested in all the animals :)

me & my girl

me & my baby girl {still sleepy}

big daddy gorilla

looking at the gorillas

more interested in the gorillas than in
taking pictures for mommy :)

sign of a fun day :)

love this picture. and this girl. :)

once we got home from the zoo {very hot & very tired} we all took nice long naps. it took some convincing, but jason finally agreed to join us for fireworks at night. (i know it's crazy, but my husband sadly does not get excited about any holiday or the traditional festivities that most people enjoy... so i had to remind him of all the amazing memories he'd be giving to our girls. luckily, he's a really good daddy, so he tagged along!) :) i wanted to join the masses for mckinney's red white & boom in craig ranch, but my husband is {sometimes} smarter than me, so we parked a few miles away, where we could still see the show, but had a quick route out so we wouldn't get stuck in traffic. this was the first year we did fireworks with rylie, and she was really excited. a local radio station was playing music synchronized to the fireworks show, so we turned that up and tailgated in our explorer with lots of other {smart} mckinney residents.

my sweet family waiting for fireworks
{jason, as you can see, is thrilled.}

there is just something about fireworks celebrating our nation that i love. maybe its the tradition... the idea that americans have been gathering every year in july to watch fire and lights in the sky for hundreds of years. that in that moment, we are gathered together, and we are one... all celebrating and being thankful for the same freedom. it's beautiful. it's something i am proud to be a part of. thankful to be a part of. this freedom we are so blessed to have... freedom as americans, and freedom in Christ. i pray my children will grow to understand the price paid for both of these freedoms, and to be eternal grateful and thankful enough to live full in that Freedom.

happy fourth. :)

may you live each day, fully in the Freedom that has been given to you.

emma words.

the other day emma and i were sitting in the living room, just enjoying each other. she was deep in thought.

emma: "mommy?... when people die, is that when we get ham?"

me: "ham? when people die??"

emma: "yeah, you know... ham... like we eat on sandwiches? do we get that when people die?"

me: {completely bewildered & trying to keep composure} "what do you mean, baby?"

emma: "well, because... don't we have ham inside our bodies?"

me: {oh. my. gosh. trying to keep it together & explain the difference between our muscles and lunchmeat.}

oh, how i love that little girl. :)

pictures.

i just got around to organizing about a year's worth of pictures in my iPhoto, so my hope is to do lots of posting over the next few weeks to share some highlights of our last year.

i got all snuggled in bed with my laptop ready to do just that, but jason told me i have to go to bed, because "we've got an early morning tomorrow," and i "need to go to bed like a normal person." :) he's kinda right. i've been staying up way too late! my body clock is going to be so screwed up come august 21st...

anyway, we're hitting up the fort worth zoo tomorrow with the girls for half-price wednesday & fourth of july. :) we are very excited. we'll take lots of pictures, so stay tuned for an upcoming post. :)

for now... goodnight! happy fourth tomorrow! ;)