Fireworks!

Otherwise known as the conclusion to Independence Day!! LOL

As I said earlier, for the first time I not only remembered my tripod but I had time to go get every thing set up. Let me tell you, it was so much fun to be able to get these pictures. Maybe next year I'll get a remote release or even a wider angle lens and they'll be even better. I don't know what it is but photographing fireworks is so much fun. I took a couple hundred shots and have edited about 30 of them so far.

Here are a few of my favorites. :)

You can see the rest of the set here.

Independence Day Part 3

So, I might get it all posted some time this century. I keep trying and the kids keep interrupting. LOL

So, after our air conditioned break, we headed out to the carnival.

As you can see, Mia is still rockin' her silly with the addition of her sparkly headband. ;) I swear, I don't know where she gets it.

We bought tickets and then proceeded to follow the kids around as they went on ride after ride.

The Castle:

Please excuse blurry pics. I wasn't prepared. LOL

From the Castle we headed straight for the bounce house.

Can I just say I love the bounce house? I only wish that I could get in it. But really, it only takes one ticket per kid and they just bounce and bounce and bounce until they can barely breathe from laughing so hard and then they slide out all jelly legged and flushed. Awesome.

Once they finally had their wits about them we headed to Mia's favorite, the Carousel.

The kids had been wanting to play a game, so that's what they did next. Only I forgot to take pictures because I was too busy laughing at them trying to catch the "fish".

Once they'd each picked their prize--a stuffed and tie-dyed dolphin for Mia and a sea turtle for Anakin--it was time to hit one last ride as it was starting to get dark. Anakin really wanted to go on the dragon coaster and even though Mia got scared last year and got off, she insisted she wanted to ride it. So off they went.

I was so nervous letting her go, but she rode it. The first couple of go arounds she had her head down and was clutching the bar pretty hard. I was certain she was going to freak any moment. But then her head popped up and she was laughing. It was harder on me than it was her, much like most things. I finally snapped that shot at the end of the ride. You can barely see Mia's curls past Anakin's head.

As Mia came off the ride, she informed us that she was "Brave and tough!" Indeed. LOL

By this point it was time to head back to the van to get comfortable for the fireworks and for me to get my tripod set up (I remembered it this year!)

Independence Day Part 2

After our snack we headed back to the play area to let the Littles see the clown and play for a bit. Plus it was free!!! I love free fun! LOL

Anakin always asks for a sword...always.

Mia got a pretty purple flower.

Both kids played for awhile at all the stations but every year their favorite is the stacking cups. They don't really know how to play the game, they just like to make "castles". Even if some of them are a little small. ;)

After they played, we walked around looking at all the sales booths. Lucky me, there was a Scentsy booth and I came home with a couple goodies. ;) Oh, and entered to win a full-size warmer and some bars. *crosses fingers*

At this point we decided to head home for a bit. Our hands were full of goodies and freebies that we'd gotten and we all needed a break from the heat. We'd come back later for the carnival and fireworks.

Independence Day!!

Yesterday was the fourth and we went to Laurel for their Independence Day celebration. We always have so much fun every year when we go and this year was no different. When we first arrived we headed towards the car show.

We walked around a bit and looked at all the cars. I would have taken more pictures but I was busy trying to ensure that my kids wouldn't get fingerprints on all those nice, shiny, clean cars. LOL

At one point we passed the face painting booth and Mia decided she wanted a pink butterfly.

Then they fell in love. When the saw it they immediately called it "Mater".

And lucky for them the lady that owned it said that they could even sit in it. :)

According to the thermometer on my van it was about 100 degrees out yesterday and sweltering so we took a break and had some italian ice. As you can tell, it did the trick. :)

And then we headed off for more fun!

Independence Day

Well, it only took me five days to upload the pics and then another day to post them, but here I am! lol

This year we went to Laurel's Independence Day celebration again. This year it was on the third due to the fourth falling on a Sunday and Jason had to work so I took the kids for a little while that afternoon. We went back after dinner to enjoy the carnival and fireworks. I took my camera but it's a lot harder to keep track of all the kids in a crowd and take pictures so I gave up and just enjoyed myself.

I did want to attempt pictures of the fireworks again and even remembered to put my tripod in the van this year. However, I never got it out in time. I kept telling Jason that it was probably time to find a good spot to sit and watch them and he kept telling me we had time. Guess who was right?

I did attempt some hand held shots and a few weren't bad but it was incredibly frustrating for me to not be able to get good shots. I also really need to get a wide angle lens. I've been looking at them for months now and can't decide what I want or how wide I want to go.

When we came home we set off a few small fireworks. I did get my tripod out and get a couple of shots.