Fourth of July Fun!

One of the many activities we participated in the year was going to Lonestar Park for the horse races and fireworks show afterwards. The Liles family along with the Dickson's, Bowman's, Haynes', and soon to be Bell's (Greg and Shelley) loaded up for a night of fun. The kids were oh so excited to get to see the horses race, not to mention play in the "kid zone" that they had set up. So off we went ready for some fun!

The first thing the kids wanted to do were ride the ponies. This was Bryleigh's first time actually on a horse, and she loved it! I, being the "protective" mom, started out walking (briskly I might add) with her around and around and around...and just about the time I was about to pass out from dizziness and heat, Bryleigh looked at me and said, "Mom, I can do this by myself!" So, secretly relieved, I took my place on the sideline. Once it was over, she said, "I can't wait to tell daddy!"
Next, after all had ridden the ponies, we headed over to the petting zoo. There were goats, rabbits, lambs and baby pigs. As you can see, Bryleigh loved the pigs. I kept trying to get her to pet other animals, but she would always manage to get back over to the little piggies. This particular pig, just sat and let her pet him for a really long time. What a cutie!
So after all the fun we could stand in the "kid zone" we headed back to meet the guys and catch the last of the horse races. The girls ate snow cones and settled in laps (Sydney in Megan's and Bryleigh in Shelley's) for the big firework show! And big it sure was...we were soooo close and it was very loud, but everyone, even Addyson, did great and enjoyed it. The fireworks were set to songs and it lasted about 20 minutes. Although, at one point we thought it might come to an abrupt halt due to a bush catching on fire, but luckily it was extinguished quickly and the fun continued!
One of Bryleigh's highlights of the night was getting to cruise around on Shelley's shoulders. Miss Shelley took her down to get an up close look at the final race...what more could a little girl ask for! Thanks to Shelley for playing "human taxi"!
So, as you can imagine, after all the fun was over everyone was a bit tired. As you can see from Addyson's face she was over it. But don't be fooled...she had a blast too. But is it really fair to ask a 11 month old to stay up 2.5 hours past their bed time...no, I don't think so!

Thanks to all of our great friends who made The Liles 2008 Fourth of July a one for the memory books!