Happy 4th!!

What a day we've had! I always LOVE the 4th of July. It ranks right up there with Christmas as one of my very favorite holidays. We spent the night in Pawleys last night just so we could take full advantage of the 4th in Pawleys Island.

JD woke me at 5:30 this morning and we spent a little time on the couch watching cartoons... at least until the sun came up and JD decided that everybody else needed to be up too!

We hit the beach at 7:00 AM sharp and, let me just tell you, it was an absolutely perfect morning for the beach. Nice and cool, slight breeze and, since we got there so freakin' early, we easily got a parking space!

After the beach we went back to grandma and grandpa's house (JD actually said to us while we were playing on the beach "papa now") so Allie could get a nap. We headed back to the island around 11:00 AM for the parade. This was JD's 3rd parade and he really, really enjoyed it this year. I wish I would have gotten a picture of the joy on his face when the fire trucks drove by! Oh... and most of the people in the parade were throwing candy to the kids sitting on the side of the road... so JD really enjoyed eating Tootsie Rolls while shouting "HAPPY 4th!!!" to everyone that passed! Allie sat on my lap and just watched it all go by. She enjoyed it too and was a really good girl all morning. I loved bringing her to her very first Pawleys Island 4th of July Parade!

When the parade was over it was nap time again. This time for both of the kids. JD slept for 2 hours and was ready to play when he woke up. He drags my poor dad all over the house and yard while we're there. Papa is his buddy and when he's not dragging papa around, he's following papa around!  After a couple of hours of playing, Kent and Sarah arrived to join us for dinner and then Merv, Angie, Brad and Josh arrived from GA for the week! It's pretty rare that the entire family is together so we called Aunt Avis to come down the road and take a group picture.... I'll have to post that when my mom emails it to me. But the exciting thing is that we've contacted Gene Ho (he's my very awesome wedding photographer) and we're having him come down to Pawleys for family pics on the beach this week. I can't wait. Gene is so fun to work with and makes you feel so comfortable in front of the camera. Not to mention his photos are absolutely amazing!

The kids are now conked out in their beds but tomorrow the festivities continue as the kids and I are meeting Abby, Peyton, Brooke and Walker at the beach in the morning and then, in the afternoon, we're headed to Kent & Sarah's house for a cookout!

And we have even more fun planned for Tuesday. All the guys (Dave, Kent, Merv, Brad, Josh and even my dad) are going to play golf at Wild Wing. While they're out on the course, Mom, Angie and I will take the kids to the Wild Wing pool and probably a golf cart ride too!