The 4th of July, lake style!

On the morning of the 4th we woke up bright and early and put on our very best red, white and blue.  What for?  We were headed to the lake and wanted to show our love for the good ole US of A.

We even threw in a few flags that made good photo props, too!

My favorite peeps in the whole wide world.  So very happy I got to spend the long weekend with all of them.

Our first afternoon there we went out in search of the famed pirate ship from our last time up there.

We knew it docked at Grandpappy Marina and sure enough, when we got close by Jackson spotted it out on the high seas.

Ahoy!  Turns out it really IS a pirate ship, with three pirates on it.  They had swords and guns and looked like the real deal.  We circled all the way around and saw a sign on the back that said "Charter Me - 903-445-4444."  A family had charted the boat for the 4th and looked like they were having a ball.  How fun!

All excited from our pirate sighting, the kids were smiling from ear to ear as they swam in the lake with Gigi.

They had a blast getting tossed off the boat by Jared...

and then started the cannonball marathon.  These kids must have done 105 cannonballs over three days!

And Lila might have done the most.  She loved it so much.

That evening we let the kids do some poppers before going out on the water to watch the fireworks shows. All three got really into it, but man, they were loud!

I was afraid this little girly might run back into the house, but all I saw was this great big smile every time she got to throw one.

We took the boat out right as the sun was setting and it felt awesome.  It might have been the first 4th of July I can remember that wasn't hot, humid and super sticky even at night.  We were even a little bit chilly watching all the fireworks.  There were two shows going on simultaneously, plus all the other lakegoers who were shooting off their own.  It's a night we won't soon forget.

The kids went to bed late and actually slept in past 8am, so when they got up, they were ready for more fun in the sun.  We were smart and brought the innertube with us this time and it was a huge hit.

All three goofballs learned how to surf...

but their favorite thing was just to jump off of it!

We had so much fun out there that we even had lunch on the boat.  When we'd finally had enough, Jackson and Gigi hopped on the tube to ride it back to the dock.  The water was pretty rough, though, so J man was not that big of a fan.  At least he did it, though!

Mom and Louann were a little braver and rode the waves with no problem.  They were awesome!

Saturday morning we woke up and it was time for Jared and I to drive down to Lake Lewisville.  We met up with the crew for Andrew's 30th birthday celebration on a party barge!

25 big kids on the lake.  Fun, fun, fun!



We had a great time with everyone and would love to do it again some time!  I know some girls with summer birthdays...maybe we could do a big party for y'all when the big 35 comes around!



We got back to Lake Texoma around 9pm and were just a little bit tired, but after a good night's sleep, we were ready for the water again on Sunday.  My little brave girl was the first to volunteer to ride the innertube.  She was a bit apprehensive about her daddy standing on his knees...

but was all smiles and told me she had a "great time innertubing with my daddy!" when he got back in the safest position.  It was a fabulous week.  It's now Wednesday and I think I'm recovered! 
Happy Fourth of July!!