Only a portion of our extended family was in town for the July 4th holiday, but those of us still here in Houston (Grammy, Papa, Drew, Sarah, Abby, Ben, and our family) gathered for a barbecue at our house. After the meal, we had a special dessert of homemade ice cream... in a bag! First, the kids help me prep the bags with cream, vanilla, ice cream salt, and lots of ice.
Then, it was time to shake! Abby, Jaden, and Cody eagerly shook their own ice cream bags (at least at the beginning). Cody actually shook his so enthusiastically that he had a little bag mishap (see video below!). It was pretty amazing seeing how what started as simple liquid cream gradually turned into delicious ice cream.
The adults each grabbed a bag too, because the kids weren't sure if they wanted to share! :)
Even though the shaking got a bit tiresome for the kiddos, all their efforts were worthwhile at the end. Finally, the kids got to open the bags, dump out their ice cream, create their own sundaes and EAT! Yum!
After dinner and dessert, we headed to Grammy and Papa's neighborhood for a July 4th celebration at the park. Lots of kids were swimming or doing waterslides, but we hadn't even brought swimsuits since the weather had been so rainy all day. We thought this portion of the event would be cancelled. Turns out, however, that the rain had made this sand volleyball court a perfect consistency for building sand castles, so our crew spent the whole evening happily playing in the sand! Just after dusk, we watched a beautiful fireworks display-- quite impressive, actually, for one just put on by a neighborhood association!
We enjoyed our July 4th time with family that day! And of course, I had to capture our obligatory annual flag picture.
As always, it's fun to compare this year's pic with the ones from years past...
 |
| 2017 |
 |
| 2016 |
 |
| 2015 |
 |
| 2014 |
 |
| 2013 |
 |
| 2012 |
The ice cream making looks so fun! Your boys' startled arms photo when they were a month old cracks me up each year. :)
ReplyDelete