the 4th

Lots of pictures in this post! We had a fun 4th of July this year, even though we were stuck in Utah. We started the day with the parade. Ava loved it! She even got a huge otter pop... and ate the whole thing! Ava did the chicken dance in the street with Megan and Tyler. It was adorable to watch. 

Then we went up to North Fork Park up Provo canyon. This was my favorite part of the day. We sat under a shady tree right by the perfect creek for Ava to play in. We were there over 5 hours and Ava never got bored. She found her own perfect tree to sit in, looked for butterflies with daddy, did some arts and crafts, built rock castles with new friends, and made a boat and got first place in the race! We kept busy while we were there!

After the park we headed up to AF and visited the twins. They needed something patriotic too!



That evening we spent at the Downings eating dinner, lots of yummy treats, and watching fireworks. While I went inside to help Ava go to the bathroom there was a crazy incident that happened. One of the aerial fireworks got tipped over and shot at everyone! Megan and Tyler got hit...ouch! I am so grateful we were inside. I think that may have traumatized Ava forever. She LOVES fireworks, and kept saying "Daddy! Do an Aerial one!" She takes after her mama when it comes to fireworks. The louder and bigger the better :) Ava got lots of glowsticks, and finally got to use her glow wand. It was quite interesting watching fireworks with the alpine fire burning in the background. I don't know which fire show was more interesting! It was a late night, and Ava didn't get to bed until after 11. She was such a good girl the whole day! Happy Fourth!