4th of July!

We had a great day this year--lots of time outside, some rest in the afternoon, and then a super fun potluck & fireworks display at our friends' house.
The girls were dressed in their "daytime" outfits until right before we left, so as not to get anything on their matching-shirts/jean-capri outfits before heading to the potluck. Ironically, even with all that planning, Hannah still had an accident just before we left, so she & Gemma weren't completely identical (see picture below.) Oh well...
Gemma still had to wear one of her other festive dresses, since I want to make good use of all the adorable clothes we have from friends & family.

I love this one!!

For lunch we met up with friends from out of town for a picnic & playtime at the park. No pictures from that, but we had a really great time and enjoyed seeing all the kids playing together. We also realized how different boys & girls are (as if there was ever any doubt) because we watched their two boys wrestle & engage in a fist fight for a good fifteen minutes, while the girls just continued to play nicely on the playground. Hannah stood by and watched for a bit, at times trying to intercede by pulling on one of the boys' shirts. It didn't really work, and we suggested that she stay out of harm's way by giving them a wider radius.

Later in the evening, we went to our friends, the Telegins, and they hosted a wonderful potluck. The evening passed by in a blur as we enjoyed some delicious food (all deliciously potluck-y and American, i.e. macaroni & cheese, brats, burgers, salads, chips, salsa, guacamole, hot dishes, etc., etc. And that's not even including the desserts!!) and great fellowship with such sweet, fun families.
Here are the girls in their matching (close enough) outfits:

The fireworks that we got to watch last night were great, and I'm sure people would pay money to see some of the good ones we saw for free! :) (Shh...don't tell them or they might charge us next year... ;) I didn't even bother taking any pictures of the nighttime activities, since our camera has not been cooperating with night shots. Hannah really enjoyed it all, though, and she loved hanging out with all the big girls from the various families that were there. (Hannah & Gemma were the youngest kids there, but they did just fine, as there was no lack of attention for either of them!) At one point I heard the older girls saying "Sit on my lap, Hannah!" "Sit under my blanket!" Here's Hannah with some of the girls:

Everything was just so much fun, and it was great to hang out with these wonderful families from church. We feel very blessed to have them as friends, and we'll look forward to next year!