Happy 24th

We had so much fun this year at the parade. Here are a few of our pictures for those of you who weren't able to go. The main reason we go to the parade:
We love the motorcycles
My mom held up pretty well in the hot, hot heat. Thank goodness for umbrella'sRichard and Fara soaking up the sun!

Cooper had a mouth full of water in this picture
Camden had a blast
Riley cheesing it up for the camera
We didn't sleep over on the streets this year, so we got whatever had not been taken, yet. That always leaves you with no shade. Watch out for the train!

Riley's Fairy Garden

Riley started her fun summer activity class this week. Yesterday they made vases and hats. Today they made this cute fairy garden and scrapbooks. This class is perfect for her because she loves crafts. I thought I would pass this idea along for all the girls out there.

I HATE SNAKES!!!!

I have always been so deathly afraid of snakes and spiders. Since having kids, I have been able to handle my fears a little better. Riley has had me kill many a spider that she has found in our house. The more spiders I have killed the less scared I have been. I have always been thankful that I have never run into a snake because I don't know what I would do. So as Cooper was telling me there was a snake in the house I was very proud of myself. I acted very calm. "Oh, Cooper there is not a snake in our house." Cooper is always trying to say things that will scare me. Sure enough a garter snake was in our house. I kept telling myself "Sarah your kids are here-remain calm so you don't scare them." I just kept repeating over and over in my head "remain calm, breathe." Riley, Camden, and Cooper during all of this were on the kitchen table. Camden kept telling Cooper that it was a rattlesnake. Cooper kept telling Riley it was spitting poison out of its mouth. The conversation between the three of them was hillarious. I got the bright idea to get a bucket and a plate to try to get it out of the house. I sent Camden on the hunt for a bucket. He came back with it, but said the burner was on fire. I was making lunch and the burner caught on fire. I hurried and turned it off and had Camden go get a water bottle to get rid of the small flame. I was still trying to get the SNAKE out of the house! It really was not a big deal. There was some food on the burner that caught fire. The bucket and plate approach did not work, so I finally had the bright idea to open the door and keep nudging the snake out the door. Then it started to move and I have never screamed so loud. Meanwhile, Riley is still on the table telling me over and over how scared she is. The snake finally went out of the house--Yeah for me. I hurried and shut the door-and locked it, of course:) Now, the burner--the flame was out and everything was fine. I thanked Camden and he said just in case I pulled the 72 hour kit out from under the bed. Earlier when they asked me what the 72 hour kit was I told them it was in case our house burned down and we needed supplied to last us a few days. Sure enough I went in our room and our bags of food were pulled out from under the bed. I am so glad he knows where it is, but I thought it was hillarious that because the burner was on fire we needed to get our 72 hour kits out. We had an eventful morning and I can't believe how scared we were of a garter snake.