4th of July...in Georgia

 Our first holiday without our family...it was a hard one for me.  Usually we do a big celebration with a pancake breakfast, races and a bike parade.  Past years are here, here and here.  I was a bit depressed the week leading up to the 4th.  I woke up the morning of the 4th dreading the day.  I came down and immediately saw all of these decorations.  Josh had decorated and gotten stuff to do a special pancake breakfast.  He invited the Elders over and we had a great time!

 Luckily we had things left over from years past.

 I was impressed how he improvised with what we had in the decor department.

 We had a great time with the Elders talking about their traditions and memories with their families (maybe that wasn't a good idea...homesickness and everything). 

 After breakfast the Elders went to work and we did our races.

 Palmer and Lincoln put together the obstacle course this year and did an awesome job.

 McKay and I went against each other.  He totally beat me.

 ...even with his eyes closed...

 ...and enjoyed every second of it...

 The best race of all was the one where we would throw two tennis balls and the boys would race Sasha to get them.  Sasha didn't really understand the rules and would sometimes drop the ball she had and go for the one the boys were getting.  It kept us laughing, at one point she got BOTH tennis balls

 I love the reactions that the boys gave me when they were racing.  There were lots of smiles.

 Three-legged race.

Josh and McKay got a little crazy during their three-legged race.

 We have made some wonderful friends here.  They were so good to us on the 4th and took us boating with them.  We were so excited to have such a fun thing to do.

 The boys were pretty impressed with the boat storage.  You call them and say you want to use your boat and they put it in the water for you and then take it and put it away when you are done...we are nerds, but thought it was the coolest thing ever.

 We spent the funnest afternoon swimming around Lake Lanier.  It was the first time we had really seen

it and we loved it!  There are islands all over the lake covered in trees where people camp.  It reminds me of Neverland and the lost boys.

 

 The boys' loved us throwing a football and catching it off the boat.

 McKay was brave and got into the water a few times.  It scared him to death since he couldn't see the bottom.  I was proud of him that he did get in even though he was scared.

It was such a lovely day.

Town 4th

 We decided to go check out the town festivities for the 4th of July.  It was actually held on the 3rd, but ya know...it works.  We headed to the fairgrounds and checked out the local culture.  I think this is the first place I actually started hearing southern accents.  Up until then I was on the hunt and hadn't heard too many.  

 I am the nerdiest, I am seriously always looking for things that are "southern."  This Boiled Peanut sign thrilled me like you wouldn't believe.  I wish it hadn't had such a huge line...we still haven't tried them!

 Lincoln is my climber, it's always a good thing when he can climb something that is actually meant to be climbed and he won't get in trouble.  When we see climbing walls, we take advantage of them.  The boys all love them, but Lincoln is in HEAVEN.

 Our three climbers.

The turkey legs looked so good, but were so big I couldn't even begin to finish so Hunter took over for me.

 He enjoyed it...

 Yet another WAY too long line (can you tell I loathe lines), but this little stand was selling homemade ice cream and had this old fashion ice cream maker going.  I was pretty smitten with it. 

 We don't see sunsets too often because the trees are so thick around our house, but we could see this beautiful one from where we were sitting to watch the fireworks.  

 Josh played "I'm Proud to be an American," while we watched the fireworks.  I always love the 4th of July.

Pieces

 We have three of these beautiful Crepe Myrtle trees in our yard and they are so beautiful!  They were at the height of blossoms a couple of weeks ago.  I'm sad they are fading, but excited that they'll come back each year.

One boring rainy day we used a Pinterest idea for making mini bow and arrows. Here is a tutorial for it, it wasn't hard at all and the boys had lots of fun with them.

Hunter was assigned to clean the toy room and 2 hours later I came up to see this...

 The boys helped make rolls with Josh one Sunday afternoon.  They did a great job.

 Our boys have struggled this summer missing their friends from home.  We lucked out with some fun boys who loved to play soccer.  They put together a fun game and the boys loved every minute.  

 Poor Sasha, McKay is always dressing her up.  I think it hilarious, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't.  

 Another boring day with nothin' to do.  They got some pool toys and a squishy ball and made a baseball game.  

 One of our sweet sister missionaries that we love brought the boys some Germany stuff if they would cheer for Germany in the world cup.  They were only too happy to and Lincoln especially became a raving Germany fan.

This ditty was especially awesome.  

 I love to read biographies with the boys and we have read one on Albert Einstein, Walt Disney, and George Washington this summer.  The boys take notes and then go up one at a time and give a report on what facts they learned for everyone.  McKay decided that he needed to go up and give a little report.  He would mumble a few things and smile.  He was up there for a good 5 minutes.  

 After street contacting with the sisters at Food Truck Alley, I took my family back to get some good food there.  It was some seriously yummy food.  After we found a local art gallery/studio and the artists let the boys come in and see their work and talked about what they do.  It was really cool.

 Yum Yum.  Most of the boys got boring hot dogs and hamburgers, but Palmer tried some pork deal that he said was yummy.  

 We have made some good friend here and have felt so blessed.  They took us to a fun Mexican restaurant and then out for gelato.

 It was pretty amazing.  

 The elders gave us an awesome lesson and then had the boys each take a picture holding our remote and then stuck a colored pencil right in front of the camera.  The pictures turned out looking like they were holding light sabers, it was awesome.  

McKay got invited to his first friend birthday party.  It was pretty great (especially since we all got to come too).