4th of July and a Bittersweet Goodbye

This weekend we celebrated the 4th of July with Matthew's parents, who drove up to Tennessee for a quick visit.  Normally they stay much longer when they come, but they were on a mission this time.....a mission to retrieve Kyndall.  More on that later.

For the first year ever, Kyndall seemed to really get into the patriotic spirit.  For the past few weeks as stores began putting out their 4th decor, she would beg me to buy anything and everything she saw that was red, white and blue.  We picked up a few decorations for the house and she also requested that we line our sidewalk with flags that she found at the Dollar Tree.  At first I said no way, but then I started realizing how sweet it was that she was so into the spirit of the 4th and I changed my mind.  Obviously she doesn't fully grasp the deeper meaning of the holiday, but she does know that we are celebrating our country and how proud we are to live in the USA.  We've even been working on memorizing the pledge of allegiance.  

One of the things she just had to have was this red, white and blue cake mix.  We decided to use it for cupcakes instead and she was a very big help.....

......A big help TASTING the batter!

This one makes me laugh!

Waiting is the hardest part

So we passed the time with some lunch

Then it was time for the best part--decorating!

And of course, every great cook has to taste her finished product

Ta-da!  Beautiful!

While we continued to wait for Nonie and Poppie to arrive I took her out in the yard for a little photo shoot with her flags that she was SO proud of! 

'Merica!

All her idea, and boy was she proud..........

All-American Girl

Nonie and Poppie arrived!

Some friends of ours invited us to a cook out at their house so we spent the afternoon and evening surrounded by good food and great friends!

Somehow I ended up with a whole bunch of pictures of Kyndall from the day and none of the rest of us!  Whoops!  She just happened to be in a very cooperative mood so I may have gone a little crazy!

What's 4th of July without a belly full of ice cold watermelon??  This girl and her Mama could eat their weight in watermelon!  Yumm!

We ended the evening with a few sparklers in our driveway before we all crashed for the night.  It was a great day!

Saturday we all slept in and then made our way over to the mall for some shopping and to let Kyndall run off her energy at Chuck E Cheese

We had dinner at Rafferty's and then grabbed some shaved ice for dessert at my new favorite place!!  

This morning Matthew's parents left to go back home and they took Kyndall with them.  She'll be spending THREE WEEKS in Georgia and Florida, bouncing back and forth between my parents and my in-laws.  She is going to have so much fun and be so spoiled by the time we get her back.  I just hope I can last three weeks without her.  Don't get me wrong, I'm definitely looking forward to some down time but I honestly feel a little lost not having someone to take care of.  I keep feeling like I'm forgetting something.  It's just so QUIET around here and she's only been gone a few hours.  I'm not sure what I'll do to keep myself busy but I'm sure I can think of some projects to pass the time until the end of July.

Matthew's Mom sent me these pictures this afternoon on their way home

See.....she's already getting spoiled with goodies

They're going to keep her busy with swimming lessons, beach trips, a day at the water park, lunch dates with friends, a baby shower for Aunt Kelly, a day trip to visit my Grandma in Two Egg, play dates and more!  She's not gonna want to come home!  I'm so glad she's finally getting to truly enjoy her summer the way that a 3 year old should.  It's not her fault her Mommy is on a leash and can't travel or take her on a vacation.  I'm very grateful to our parents for doing this for her and for us.  I think the break will be good for all of us and even though I'll miss her like crazy, I will also take full advantage of my first real "me time" in 3.5 years!

I hope everyone had a happy, safe and blessed 4th of July!

And just because I love walking down memory lane........

2011---Kyndall's first 4th---Charleston, SC

July 4th, 2012---Tallahassee, FL

I don't have any pictures from 2013 because I was in the hospital recovering from surgery =(