1 August 2022 4th of July Festivities

4th of July Festivities

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We enjoyed several days of 4th of July activities when we got home from vacation.

It started on Saturday with our neighbor’s big party. They open their backyard up, cook a ton of food, and put on one heck of a fireworks show. We enjoy it!

And Remi LOVED getting to swim like a big kid (alone, without a grown up) in the pool.

We invited our friends Caroline and Grace to come over, since it was going to be fireworks without a huge crowd. Nancy had driven over in her side-by-side, and Tyler took the girls for a drive. They LOVED it.

They also played bubbles and ran around the yard. It was so fun to watch them play.

They were mesmerized by the fireworks. I absolutely love seeing the wonder in their eyes!

Sunday, Remi participated in our little Miss Freedom Fest pageant.

We got her all dolled up after church. She looked SO cute!

She didn’t win the crown, but she did win most beautiful and best personality. She also made a friend in her age category which was fun.

After the pageant, we went to watch fireworks at the next little town over.

On Monday (the actual holiday), Tyler was off work! We were so glad to have him around all day.

We started out early at the Square because it was HOT. I helped with a booth for our church for an hour while Remi hit the slides. We LOVE the 4th in our town. They have all these fun inflatables and a big festival. And it’s so fun to be surrounded by friends all day!

You get handed so many free things walking around- hats, headbands, popsicles, water, glow sticks, flags….

Remi looked like the 4th of July for sure!

We shopped the vendors, got Remi an airbrush tattoo, ate lunch and went home to nap. It was just too hot to be outside all day.

After naps, we swam at mom’s and then grilled hot dogs. We usually go back to the square for dinner, but it was too hot to be out on the pavement until the sun went back down.

We got there around 8, grabbed dessert and a good spot to listen to the music, and waited for fireworks!

There’s usually a dance band, but this year was a country singer. While he was great, we missed the dancing. Thankfully, after the fireworks, he played two dance songs…so we got to boogie on the Square with our friends before the night was over.


Filed Under: 4th of July, family, friends, greenwood, Remi, Tyler
23 July 2021 4th of July Weekend

4th of July Weekend

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We had a super fun 4th of July weekend packed with exciting things!

The 4th was on Sunday, and our town had their big FreedomFest on the 3rd (Saturday), so we got extra celebrations.

We always LOVE FreedomFest! It’s one of my favorite days in our little town. The whole town comes out, and you just get to see all your friends!

They set up bouncy houses for kids, including some with water. Remi LOVED those this year! She was so brave on the big slides.

One of Tyler’s best friends in high school (and actually, our best man) was in town visiting his parents (our pastors), and Remi got to play with his little boy, Jameson. It was fun to see them together!

We hung out for lunch, and then went home to nap when it got hot.

We came back for the evening to explore the booths and we set up our chairs near the stage to listen to music.

It’s a little loud by the stage, so Remi wore her headphones the whole night…which was good because she wanted RIGHT in the middle of it!

I got up to dance with some friends (which is sort of a funny thing….very few people were dancing, but me and my gal pals are dancers! We all met at Zumba! And the whole town is out there….but we got up anyway! I want to teach Remi to go have fun and live your life boldly without worrying what other people think!), and she joined me on the dance floor!

I had so much fun dancing with her!

She was living her best life. They hand out glow sticks and pinwheels….and she was munching on our friend JB’s popcorn. She got face painting and a new stuffed animal (they had a mobile build-a-bear type thing!)….living her best life.

It’s so fun to watch fireworks in our town square (that’s really a circle! ha!) with a bunch of friends.

On Sunday, we did church, lunch and nap…and then Tyler had to go work the fireworks in Fort Smith.

Remi and I had a little private pool party. Mimi and Gigi were with friends, so we swam just us. It was fun to play together!

She drug out ALL of the pool toys. Her imagination is the best!

We got changed and headed to the fireworks downtown, and Mimi met us. We parked near where Tyler was working so we could see him. We had to walk quite a ways to go to the bathroom, but on the way back, Remi played at the bike park. She’s so brave climbing on everything!

The sunset on the river was so pretty while we waited for it to get dark!

Tyler was thankfully stationed there to direct traffic with a partner, so there were times it wasn’t busy and he could come talk to us. We managed to snap a quick family picture before the fireworks.

On Monday, we were all off work and school, so we had another pool party. This time, we brought the dogs with us. Mikey loves being out there, and Pippin not so much! Which is so not like him…but he stuck close to us when we weren’t swimming.

Remi ended up staying the night with Mimi, so me and Tyler snuck away for dinner and a movie (A MOVIE! In the theater! First movie date post pandemic!). It was a great weekend!


Filed Under: 4th of July, greenwood, Remi, Tyler
13 July 2020 A Very Fun Fourth of July

A Very Fun Fourth of July

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Our typical 4th of July at Freedomfest was canceled, so we had a low key (but wonderful) day. We started the day at mom’s where this little firecracker played (while I walked….thanks mom!)

Then I made ribs and hot dogs. I tried my darnedest to make them like my dad did. He was FAMOUS for his hot dogs and ribs, and he would cook them low and slow and SLATHER them in his secret sauce. I spent longer than usual cooking them, trying to make them like his. I got pretty close.

Then we hit the pool! It was a cooler day, but plenty muggy, so the water felt great.

We took late naps to prep for being up late for fireworks. We had done some fireworks at home the evening of the 3rd, and then on the 4th, we went down the hill to our neighbors for their big show. They throw a huge party every year, and while we don’t really crash the party (though they always invite us! we just don’t know many people there), we enjoy their fireworks show! Remi LOVED it.

When we got back home, we could see several nearby houses doing their shows, and then we shot some more of our own. It was a great night!


Filed Under: 4th of July, family, Remi
17 July 2019 4th of July Fun

4th of July Fun

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Goodness did we have a super fun holiday!

We kicked it off on the 3rd with a birthday for our cousin Caitlyn! I LOVE that she wants to be here with us for her birthday. This is somehow the only photo I took that evening…of Remi eating the cake.

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After dinner, we went to see fireworks. It’s a tradition for Cait on her birthday! It was BUSY because the only fireworks in the area were at a town about 30 minutes from home….and EVERYONE was there. My aunt had some car trouble that threw a wrench into the plans, but we still watched the big show and it was fun.

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Remi was a little nervous, but ended up doing great, not even needing me to hold her. She sat by her KK most of the night!

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On the 4th, we headed to the square in the morning to get some fun family time before Tyler had to go to work!

Remi wanted to bring her bike, and (even though I was nervous she was going to run into someone!) she had a great time peddling around. Our small town celebration is a great time to ride your little bike around.

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She got plenty of play time on the bouncy houses (even though she was afraid of the ones with water).

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And we loved getting some family time together. If you’re not dressing crazy patriotic for the 4th, are you even American? ha!

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We cooled off with snowcones- off course blue for this one!

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She LOVED seeing her blue tongue in my camera. 🙂

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After a good nap, we hit up Mimi’s house for swimming and lunch!  We were there with our family and some friends (my friend Rachel’s crew came to swim, too!). SO MUCH FUN.

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We got ready that evening (and got some Nene snuggles) and then headed back to the square.

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My favorite 4th of July tradition is the HUGE block party that happens on our town square. Live music- so many friends. It’s HOT (see everyone sweating like crazy?) but it’s SO fun.

We dance, we eat dinner from the food trucks, we get snow cones and watch fireworks.

We LOVED dancing with our friends Tara and Amelia…

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And we also partied with my sweet friend Brandy and her son.

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Tyler had to work, but we were so grateful to meet up with Tara and her family- and sweet Heath played with Remi just like a daddy would have. So thankful for friends who are more like family.

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More blue snow cones!

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And then fireworks!  Remi wasn’t too interested (it was her third fireworks in like 4 nights)….but we enjoyed being all together!

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Filed Under: 4th of July, family, friends, greenwood