miss independents

The girls' new favorite phrases are "I want to do it myself" and "I want to pick." They are becoming very independent (or at least they think so). They had a lot of fun with my family on Saturday, July 3rd. We spent the day at my parent's farm. We attempted to take our annual cousins picture by lining them up in age order; however it didn't quite go the easiest trying to get 8 kids to stand still. Here is the best picture we ended up with:

Maya (7), Emma (4), Alex (4), Evan (3), Olivia (2), Violet (2), William (1), Owen (1):

The kids all played in the pool and ran around the yard, and then we all went on a hayride and had a bonfire. Olivia and Violet even took a turn with riding on the tractor with Grandpa while we were on the hayride. They have been pretty scared of noisy things lately, so I was very proud that they rode on the tractor. Grandpa even let them steer a little bit! Here are some pictures from the farm:

We celebrated July 4th in my hometown of Evansville. We took the girls to the parade. Violet LOVED it. She was waving her little flag around like crazy, and enjoyed running out into the street to pick up candy. Each time she would pick up a piece of candy, she would hold it straight up in the air like it was a huge prize. Olivia was content to sit and watch, although she did warm up after awhile and picked up a few pieces of candy. We watched the parade with two of my sisters and their families, Grandma Suchy, and cousin Chelsey. My dad and my brother-in-law Aaron both headed the parade by marching in the color guard and watched the end of the parade with us after they were done. After the parade, we went down to the park where there were several activities going on. The girls both went on a pony ride and had a lot of fun.

Violet & Olivia in their red, white and blue:

Violet and cousin Emma waving their flags:

Cousins waiting for the parade to start:

Violet, cousin Chelsey, Grandma Suchy, Olivia:

Grandpa Thronson (center with blue flag) and Uncle Aaron (by Grandpa with striped flag): Olivia, Mommy and Violet:

Waving to the clown riding a cow, the hit float of the parade:

Violet holding up her candy:

Grandpa Thronson with Alex, Evan, Maya, Violet, Olivia & Emma:

Olivia riding a pony with Chelsey:

Violet riding a pony with Grandpa:

After we left Evansville, we went to Jamie's parent's farm. Olivia and Violet fed chickens and chased after the kittens. We also played some bean bag toss, and Joey shot off some fireworks. We had a really nice time and enjoyed spending time with everyone.