Water, Fireworks, and Golfcarts

This pretty much sums up our Fourth of July weekend. We had a blast! Friday, Ian came home to spend some time with the kids and me. Jason and Allison and the kids also came into town for the festivities. We had a blast! After dinner Friday night, we drove to Fort Gordon, the military base in Augusta, for an amazing fireworks show. The weather was perfect for an outdoor event! Charis stayed at home with Grammy and Big Al (the three of them didn't want to get out in the crowd.) Ian, Cayman and I drove out there with the Russell's, and we met up with the other Russells (my oldest brother, Clark, his wife, Kathy, and my oldest niece, Graysan.) So much fun!

Saturday, we went to my mom's sister's house for a cookout with our entire family. It was very warm outside, but thankfully they have a pool! So we got to cool off. And let me tell you - our daughter has NO fear around the water! She would walk right up to the edge of the pool and just walk right off into Ian's waiting arms! And somehow, Ian managed to talk Cayman into jumping off the diving board while Ian was holding him. They both plunged underwater! Cayman enjoyed it, but he didn't want to do it again! While the entire family was together, my cousin and his wife took advantage of the opportunity and had my aunt Patti cut into two gender reveal cakes revealing the genders of their twins. They're having two boys! It was so exciting to be a part of it! The kids also got to have snow cones -- and yes, I do mean multiple snow cones! :) You can't celebrate the Fourth without snow cones, can you?!

Saturday night, Ian and I left Augusta and drove to Peachtree City, GA where he's been staying during his training. Some of the other spouses were visiting this weekend since the newly selected operators didn't have class today. The celebration of the Fourth of July is taken very seriously in Peachtree City, and we had fun joining right in! I'm pretty sure it's a requirement for every resident of Peachtree City to own a golf cart (joking, but pretty much everyone owns one!) This weekend is known as "Golfcart Weekend" or "Golfcart Days" or something to that effect. We constantly saw people out on their golfcarts, and the city was designed in such a way that you can get just about anywhere in the city on your golf cart. There are paths all through the neighborhoods and woods dedicated for the golf carts - bridges and tunnels included! Saturday night when we got there, we went out on one of the seven golf carts that Chick-fil-A rented for everyone in the class. We quickly noticed tarps spread out in random locations. By Sunday afternoon, there seemed to be tarps on the ground everywhere! Some had families' names spray painted on them. We quickly realized that the residents/guests were literally marking their territory for tonight's big fireworks show! It was really fascinating to us - Peachtree City is definitely rooted in some old-fashioned customs that other cities could benefit from adopting!

Sunday, we slept in, went to Waffle House for breakfast/lunch, then jumped on the golf carts with some of the other operators. We stayed on the golf carts ALL AFTERNOON...like, seriously, 12:30-5. We had a great time, but I was definitely ready to be done with the golf carts for a while. The "boys" that I was with all day (occasionally some of the wives showed up, but most of the time it was me, Ian, and some of the guys). But they truly acted like little 12 year old boys all afternoon! It was hilarious. Thankfully, everyone made it safely back to the hotel. We had a few close calls. ;)

Sunday night, we ordered room service, Ian took me on a tour of the hotel - I schooled him in shuffleboard and he returned the favor in pool and fooseball. I sure do love spending time with my man! We have so much fun together. Later that night, we played Apples to Apples with two other couples and another operator. We talked until the wee hours of the morning, and then ended our night with a final ride on the golf cart! We had a blast, and definitely needed to sleep in this morning, which we did - until 11! We spent some more time together, and then I left him again...for two more weeks! And that's it! He graduates on the 15th! We can't wait to finally get up to EC! Enjoy the pictures from our crazy, fun weekend!

Thursday morning, we took the kids to a fun park in Augusta (Evans, really.)
Charis loved the water - Cayman loved the playground.

Cake pop time!

My dessert for the 4th of July cookout

Fireworks show!

How cute are they?

Kids and their electronics these days.... :)

Cayman's face CRACKS. ME. UP.

We LOVE fireworks!

Fearless one.

Walk right up to the edge, and...

Jump!

Sweet boy!

She HATES floats!

My nephew, Garrett

Some of the fam

Levi - 2 days older than Charis

More of the fam

The boys waiting in line

Gender reveal cakes

2 boys!

My cousin, Jana, and her husband, Daniel

Harper!

Golf cart days!

Chris Kirby standing on the golf cart bridge watching...

Ian walk across the creek down below

Alyson, Ian, Rachel and Billy Cossette, Jenna and Chris Kirby -
taking a break from golf carting at TCBY

The Kirby's - Estero, FL

The Cossette's - Pine Island Road FSU, Cape Coral, FL
*Yes! Ian's old store!*

Another tunnel

Walking bridge in the woods

Our Ride...

Grant took down a tree...

Ian and Billy - two peas in a pod!

I painted Charis' toes for the first time! :) Harper wanted her toenails and fingernails painted.
Before I started on her toenails she said, "Wait. Where's the base?"
My SIL has her hands full with that child!