Our time in Missouri included the July 4th holiday. To celebrate, Jefferson City held a street parade on the eve of July 4th. The city dumped an enormous pile of sand on the street for kids to dig and play in. This was a wonderful way to have our kids spend their time as we waited for the parade to begin.
These professional artists (I wonder what they're called... sand artists extraordinaire??) put the kids' creations to shame. Amazing!
Grammy and Papa saved seats for us along the parade route. The guys scouted out the food trucks and bought dinner for everyone. We were finishing up our meals just as the parade began.
We had heard that this parade gave away tons of candy, so the kids eagerly stood watch for candy throwers.
Ben was so excited that his daddy had to restrain him. :)
Adley wasn't into the candy, but she loved watching all the action and didn't seem overwhelmed by the loud noises.
The next morning we returned to the street fair location because there was a Scholastic booth giving away free kids books. When we arrived, the workers told us that we could take as many books as we liked! Perhaps they didn't realize they were talking to a group of teachers... :) Sarah, Kim, and I walked away with several bagfuls each. Awesome!
During our extended weekend stay in Jefferson City, we enjoyed some downtime with family-- building with Aunt Jill's blocks,
having a picnic in Great-Grandma's front yard,
exploring her property,
teaching the kids to play one of Grandma's games (a classic favorite, Oh Nuts!),
and then playing a nostalgic game of Oh, Nuts with my siblings.
One day we met my cousin Macy at a park. Macy was so sweet to join us, as she had just come off a long night shift at the hospital where she works as a nurse. Going to the playground gave the kiddos some perfect active time.
Macy is so great with kids! All the kiddos loved her attention, jokes, and willingness to be goofy.
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| Cody, Ryan, Macy, Adley, Jaden, Abby, Ian, Nathan |
Adley received some great TLC over our vacation. It's always so much fun watching others love on her! Adley's cousins (especially Ian and Ryan on this trip) often asked to hold her. They seemed thrilled when they could make her laugh.
Extra Daddy time on vacation is always nice!
Aunt Jill and Adley seemed to bond well. Adley loved being in her arms!
At the end of our trip, we took the typical family combination photos. What a special time we had with Grandma!
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| Grandma with her 8 great-grandkids |
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| Grandma with her oldest son and his family |
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| Grandma with two of her three sons and their wives |
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| Grandma with 3 of her 9 grandchildren and their spouses |
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