1st of Many July 4th

With July 4, 2012 falling on a Wednesday this year it was interesting to celebrate our Nations Independence.

The local Thunder Over our county was held the weekend before the 4th.  When we first heard this, we thought we were going to have to decline attending the events due to schedule conflict.  (Yes, we actually do have these in our household.)  However, after a major storm blew through the area south of us our original plans needed to cancel.

While this may have led to a few disappointments there weren't any tears here in our house only cheers.  Why you ask?  This means we got to celebrate our first Independence Celebration of 2012 with some people who are our blended  extended  really good friends  family.  

We had such a wonderful afternoon/evening/night....well, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves.

It all started with a trip to town.  To visit all of the attractions they brought in for everyone to enjoy FREE!!!!(We love FREE!)  

  

I'll let you guess which one was most popular in our family......

There were slides!

Love Nathan's expression.

There was outdoor ice skating!  (Or maybe I should say plastic skating.)

We didn't see any jumps or spins from Natalie out there.

Natalie had to go back to the basics when skating on plastic.

Bailee was so happy!

There was face painting

Nathan watching Blaine get his artwork.

Nathan had paint everywhere.

Bailee took advantage of the painting studio several times that day.  She was freshened up with some glasses this time.

Reid was NOT into the body painting.  So, he occupied himself by following the trail of cords going to all of the vendors.

And there was the Rock Wall:

First Step:  Safety Gear!

2nd Step:Wait until the instructor gives you the go
 to start your climb.

Step 3:  CLIMB!  CLIMB!! CLIMB!!!

Hayley made it to the top on her 1st climb!

Nathan's 1st climb went well!

Nathan's 2nd round had him sooo close to the top!  When we finished and he saw the photos of how close he was, he couldn't believe it.

And then there was Natalie.  If I didn't know any better, I would have thought she started climbing rocks the moment she was born.  She was truly unstoppable! 

Watching the kids rock climb was really fun.  It was great to see each of them push themselves to a new level.  Not a single one of them gave up without trying as hard as they possibly could.  I couldn't help but think of what lesson that could teach us we are going about our daily lives.  There are certainly many unknowns and times when we have to stretch ourselves to reach the next "peg".  But if we keep going step by step eventually we will feel the success of reaching the top...only to find ourselves back at the bottom of a new hill/wall and starting all over.  However, with the experience we gained from the other challenges we have faced, this time up is a bit easier.

What about you?  Have you watched you, your children, or someone else tackle a difficult task but end up on top?  Share!

~Misti~