4th of July Weekend

**WARNING LONG POST**

We had a great 4th of July Weekend that started with a BBQ at the Williams' house on the 2nd. They just recently had a baby boy and we were able to meet little Judson for the first time. He was so cute! We also got to see many of Matt's LDS classmates.

On the 3rd we went to Busch Gardens again with Brian and Kimberly. It was such a blast. We got there early and decided that we had to go on the front row of every ride we went on. There usually wasn't a huge wait and it was so much better going in the front. We also tried to get Matt to put his hands up for the roller coaster pictures. But he just wouldn't. He even held his hands up for the whole ride on one and then right before the picture took he put them down- just to bug us.

Then we went to Williamsburg to find some killer deals at the outlet stores. Matt got some new sunglasses, a radio-control airplane, and some clothes. I just got clothes at my favorite outlet Banana Republic. We had dinner at the food court and then made our drive to Virginia Beach.

We got to stay at Haley's Dad's awesome house again. We love going there because it's free and so close to the beach. Once we got there the guys got some flashlights and went to the beach to find crabs, while the girls stayed and watched High School Musical 2. Haley hadn't seen it yet and she absolutely loved it! The next day we watched the first one. Now we can't wait for High School Musical 3 to come out! Yes, we know we're a little old to be into Disney Channel movies, but we are.

We also played a lot of Rock Band. We found out that the drums are probably the hardest. And that when the guys sing it sounds more like tribal chants.

On the 4th, we went down to the beach. We saw lots of animals - crabs, jelly fish, horseshoe crab, seagulls, and even a stingray. After some swimming, Matt and Cameron went back to the house to get their enormous kite. They wanted to see if they could get their 10.5 foot kite up in the air. They quickly realized there just wasn't enough wind to keep it up in the air.

We went back to the house and had lunch. We played card games, and Matt built a card castle. Brian and Cameron made up a game where they tried to throw a little stress ball up to the corner of the vaulted ceiling. Then they made it more challenging when they had to keep their head on the floor. They looked pretty silly. We spent lots of time in the pool and hot tub.

That night we went down to the beach to watch the fireworks. They were shot off a barge on the ocean. It was a good show. I just wish we were a little closer to see them. While we were waiting for the show, Matt flew his plane and broke it. So then he found a creepy use of the LED lights. Brian and Kimberly had to leave right after the show so we were very sad to see them go.

The next day we wanted to go to the beach but it was sprinkling on and off. We found some fake mustaches in a closet and Matt and Cameron put them on. They looked so funny, especially when Matt put on his sunglasses. I hope I never see this character sitting by a park playground ;)

We decided to take our chances with the weather and go anyway. We set up our "camp" complete with some floaties and an umbrella. It was pretty windy so Matt and Cameron decided to go get their kite. After a few tries they were able to get it up in the air. They let the girls hold it too, but the kite was pulling so hard. We were afraid to hold it without the guys helping. Then the guys started getting a little crazy when they tried jumping in the air. They also tried "sailing" with a floatie. That's when Matt got sand burns from being drug on the bottom of the ocean when he was pulled off the floatie. It started raining harder so we had to pack up all our stuff and walk back to the house.

The guys played video games while girls helped Haley's Dad pack some things. I also took advantage of the rainstorm and took some pictures of the rain dropping on a table.

Sunday we got our chance to spend the day at the beach. We had tons of fun swimming on floaties, relaxing, and building the most awesome sand castle ever. People stopped as they were walking by and complimented us on our castle. It was overcast most of the day so none of us noticed our skin getting redder and redder as we played in the sand. When we got back to the house we all realized we should have reapplied that sunblock.

As we were realizing just how crispy our backs were, we enjoyed some Dance Dance Revolution, and more Rock Band. Haley's Dad made a fabulous dinner of grilled chicken. so yummy. And then we watched Hitch before making the drive back home.

We had such a great time, even if we were all really tired on Monday and our sunburns were hurting. It's so great to have awesome friends to celebrate with.