4th of July

The 4th of July has become one of my favorite holidays. We have made it tradition to go to Cedar Rapids for the holiday and enjoy the time with Brett's family. This year was no exception. We were able to come on the 30th and enjoy a long weekend boating, eating, and spending time with family. We were able to visit with The Henderson's at their lake cabin on the 2nd. We were able to boat with Aunt Brittany and Uncle Rick on the 3rd and 4th. Lydia loved splashing in the lake water and being tossed into the air by her daddy. She found the boat a comforting place to take a nap on her mommy, which I did not object to!
A highlight of every year is watching the fireworks from the premier view at Brett's aunt's house. Lydia loved the fireworks this year and shouted out the names of the colors as she saw them explode in the sky. We were also able to visit with Brett's cousin, wife and their baby girl, Lana. It is fun having a playmate at the Ellis gatherings. We were able to snap a few pictures of Brett's grandparents with our little families. As cute as this picture turned out, it was a battle to get the girls to cooperate long enough to capture the picture. This one is for the memory books, though! I love to look back a year and see what a difference it makes. With Lydia still a toddler, a year means a wealth of new developmental milestones, language development, and fun!

3rd of July 2010

3rd of July 2011

Cedar Rapids also hosts a kids parade. Lydia rode in her wagon like a future Miss America, waving at the people on the sidelines as if she were a beauty queen. We love this new tradition as well and know it will only continue to become more fun as Lydia gets older. 4th of July 2010

4th of July 2011

Other than the standard celebrations of the 4th of July, we celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary with an evening at Uptown Friday Nights in Cedar Rapids with Brett's parents followed by a dinner at Capone's. Aunt Brittany watched Lydia while we celebrated our anniversaries. We also enjoyed a morning at the Cedar Rapids Farmer's Market. Lydia loved watching all the people. We loved the Raspberry Strawberry Rhubarb pies that Denise bought!

The 4th of July weekend was brought to an end when Brett and I returned back to Peoria and Lydia continued her vacation with Oma and Opa. She stayed in Iowa to visit the Blank Park Zoo in Des Moines, the City Park in Iowa City, the Linn County Fair, and Noel Ridge Pool. She was a busy beaver visiting her Great-Grandparents, cousins, and making her way to Target and Hy-Vee just to name a few. I appreciated all the text updates and picture mails that made the time without Lydia a little more tolerable. Brett and I were able to enjoy some time together and made use of the time by eating out, running errands, and visiting several vineyards in Southern Illinois. We were happy to meet Oma and Opa at Niabi Zoo to pick up Lydia and enjoy visiting with the animals!