4th of July in NorCal

This year we decided to spend the 4th of July with Jake's family up in Paradise.  It's had been over a year since our last visit and with the new addition of baby Mika we knew we didn't want to wait any longer to visit.  The kids were so excited to go to Grandma and Grandpas.  Skylar was asking each day if this was the day we get to go up to Grandma and Grandpa's house.  Madden was just really excited about riding on an airplane.  Our travels up north all went very smoothly, minus Madden and his millions of questions.  "Why are we in the shuttle?" "Where is the airplane ?" "Why is my car seat going bye-bye?" "When can we get on the plane?" "Why isn't the plane moving?" And my personal favorite "Me not going in that car, me want Mama's car!"  Madden refusing to ride in the rental car. 

Once we got to Grandma and Grandpa's the kids were in heaven.  They were so excited to see their cousins and they didn't miss a beat. You would of thought they saw each other daily. 

Cousin Geddis giving piggy back ride after piggy back ride.

Playing in Grandpa's boat turned out to be Madden's favorite part of the whole weekend.

Having dinner with their cousins and so happy about it.

The next morning we went to the river for some swimming to try and beat the 100 degree heat.  This was Skylar and Madden first river experience and they loved it.  They would climb the rocks and work their way back down on the other side and jump into the river, letting the current bring them back to the shore. 

The kids had a blast just swimming and exploring. Skylar got a bit timid when Geddis, Dom, Nico and Madden had a water gun fight, so she and baby Mika built a sand castle

Cousin Geddis and Jake doing some rock diving. 

First picture of all the cousins together.  

That evening we heading into Chico for a big family dinner.  The kids were of course, being kids and by the end you could tell the waiters were ready for us to leave.  We got ice cream and let the kids play at the local park before we had to call it a day.

Jake and sweet Mika.

Who loves ice cream?!?!?!

The next morning we woke up and headed back to Grandma and Grandpa's.  Grandma was sweet enough to pick up some crafts for Skylar and Madden to do.  Madden got over the craft pretty quickly and just wanted to play in Grandpa's boat and Skylar learned to stitch with Grandma.  Skylar, Madden, and Nico had a nice lunch in the Gazabo and then played in the sand box until it was time for naps.

Rested and ready for our 4th of July BBQ we head back to Grandma and Grandpas and right into a water balloon fight.  

A lot of talk went into this picture.  Glad we pulled it off, just wish the kids were smiling.

The kids ran around all evening, having so much fun together.  Skylar even had a couple big falls and kept smiling.  We had a huge 4th of July meal and just enjoyed the family time.

Like all trips, our visit went by way too fast.  It truly was so memorable watching all the cousins together.  The whole weekend, whenever we weren't with the cousin, Skylar would ask, "Where are my cousins?" "When will my cousins be here?" "What car are my cousins in?"  She just really loved being with them.  It was really hard to say good-bye and Skylar was so sad to leave.  Sweet Geddis even cried for 10 minutes after we drove away.  They are now old enough to realize its going to be some until we see each other again, so it definitely made the good-byes much harder.

The weekend definitely wore Skylar out as you can see from this photo.  Madden was all smiles, while Skylar cried more than the twin babies seating behind us.  She was upset that there weren't two arm rests. Hahaha!