Weekend in Pictures: Family Gatherings Part 2

First, I would like to say happy anniversary to my husband.  Today is our 4th year of married bliss.  In honor of our 4th year, I will share some pictures of our 4th of July celebration. 

There are two weekends during the year that we are guaranteed to be in Las Vegas: 4th of July and Thanksgiving.  Each year it becomes more and more fun as Dominic gets older, and this 4th of July was no exception.  We continued Aarika’s graduation celebration with a pool get together at the M Hotel last Sunday.  It’s a beautiful, newer hotel that is off the strip.  It was a nice, overcast day that started at 10:30am.  We spent the late morning and early afternoon in and out of the pool, lounging and eating.  Dominic was having so much fun that he didn’t want to leave, even though he was practically dragging his feet at 2:30pm and fell asleep immediately after being put in his car seat.

The following day was spent getting ready for our 4th of July celebration.  There was a rush of activity to get all the food ready to be grilled indoors (there was no way anyone was cooking outside in the heat).  After a late lunch/early dinner, it was cool enough to go outside to begin the noise making merriment.  We started off nice and easy with a couple of boxes of “Pop-Its”.  They are basically noise makers and do not have any spark or light to them.  Deon just had fun tossing them because Dominic would squeal in delight hearing the loud “SNAP!” as they hit the sidewalk outside. 

As the sun went down, it was time to break out the big guns.  First, we take out the sparklers to ring in the evening.  Then we all settle in and sit back as my husband begins the show.  These types of legal fireworks in Nevada are not the ones that shoot up into the air.  These are the kinds that can be ignited in an open area.  They have the same flare and noise as the bigger fireworks, just on a smaller scale.  As a precaution, we just have to stay several feet back and have a bucket of water available to douse and immerse the fireworks as needed.  After awhile, Dominic was starting to become overwhelmed with the bright lights & loud cracks, so we headed inside to get some much-needed rest before our long drive home to San Diego.