OtterPops: God Bless America & A visit from the Andersons

We were so grateful to be able to celebrate the 4th of July and remember the freedoms we are able to have in our country. We started the celebration off right by attending an A's baseball game on the night of the 3rd. We were trying to figure out exactly when this tradition began, and as well as my dad can figure we've been doing this for about 20 years. We gather up a bunch of family and friends and attend an Oakland A's game with a huge fireworks show following the game.

Lillian looked at me around the 5th inning really excited and told me "Mom! It's already after my bedtime and we are still up" I told her the night was just beginning. We still had 4 more innings AND fireworks AND a long drive home! And I had to wake them all up early for a breakfast and parade with friends in the morning. The fun didn't stop the whole time! The kids were good sports and it's a minor miracle they didn't all throw up from the junk they had, even though we attempted to feed them sandwiches and fruit before the game. Unfortunately my niece did suffer from a sugar overload, but my kids miraculously escaped the same fate.

We were so lucky to have my brother Nate and his wife Tausha and their son, Florin (emma's age) come home with us after the game. We showed them our new house and stayed up WAY too late talking. On the morning of the 4th we crashed the Woolford's house (our old townhouse) for our 3rd annual 4th of July breakfast followed by the parade (in the shade!) and then decided to make a day of it by taking Greg & Maren and the Andersons Berry picking followed by a trip to the beach. Fun Fun Fun! Jonas & Emma were so tired by this point that I stayed with them in the car so they could finish their naps while everyone else hit up the beach and found almost 30 crabs from what I heard! We came home for a delicious BBQ and olallieberry shakes. We all agreed it was a perfect American summer day.