Our Fourth of July was fairly low key. We started our celebration the night before with our friends from the basement. It was full of rocket popsicles and fireworks. Weston was the star of the night….finally not fearful of the sparklers and doing two at a time! That kid constantly surprises me. The next day we had plans to go to the local parade but then we found out that it was already done the week before. Enter farting noise here that dwindles down to a mere squeak. That’s how I felt about a fourth of July parade not held on the fourth of July.
So we made plans to do our own parade. I had a few bags of streamers and some flags and we decked out the cars and bikes till the kids said they were just right and then we made our own fun.
Clay is generally terrified of Weston. Weston is just everything that Clay is not and vice versa. Weston is aggressive and loud and big and a total Daddy’s boy. He is the kid that is covered in ant bites and booboo’s and is tough as a box of rocks. Clay is gentle and passive and attached to his Mama’s hip at all times. He doesn’t like it that Weston will just randomly want to tackle him…he would rather play nicely in the still and quiet. BUT this parade was such a little milestone in their relationship. After the parade was over, Clay trusted Weston to drive him in the tractor. Weston was very serious about going slow and not driving too aggressively….that meant no power sliding or crashing which is like A LOT of restraint for my little Munch. And nobody cried. Both me and my sister were totally the parents in the corner watching every move and waiting for a huge bloody disaster and it turned out great.
After the parade was over, we headed over to my parents house and got our swim on. Well….everyone else got their swim on and my postpartum booty was firmly planted with a newborn in the shade. I miss swimming 🙁
Anyhoo…this was kinda the last big family get together before my brother gets married so we got to visit and eat and party like it was 1999.
I just wanted to post the photos for the grandparents and figured out that I have been really slacking on taking pictures with my good camera. I need to do that more. It’s just so heavy with while carrying two babies 🙁 I was looking into the Canon D60….anyone have that bad boy? It seems smaller and lighter than my 5D Mark II and I thought it might be a good fit but I would love to hear your opinion.
Go mirrorless! My top picks would be:
Sony a5000: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00HNJWU3G
or
Sony a7: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FRDV06I
Whoa! Rare sighting of Jeremy Bower and a GIRL BABY!
I have a Canon 60D and really enjoy it. It isn’t necessarily light weight but the capabilities on the camera paired with a good 50mm lens is the best way to go. I have a strap that is like a crossbody strap which might make it easier for you to use your arms for baby toting when camera is not in use. I highly recommend it!
Looks like you had so much fun! I just wanted to pipe in on cameras. I have the 5d Mark II as well, and like you it is sometimes (most times) such a heavy beast with all my kids that I don’t have it as much as I’d like. I bought my son the Rebel T3i a couple Christmases ago and stole it from him for our 4th (two long days at local parks). I’m preggo with my 4th and wanted something lighter. I have to tell you – I’m totally FLOORED by the quality of the pictures. I put my good lens on his much lighter camera and the pictures are awesome! It took me a minute to figure out the different way you set the settings…but I usually keep it in AV / TV or Manual so after just a little fiddling to get it in RAW and get the right ISO, I was pretty set. Great pictures without any concern for a heart attack if something happened to the camera. AND, I easily threw it in my purse and it only added a little weight. Sorry – really long post, but thought I would share! A good lens on even a T3i (which takes HD video BTW) creates pretty awesome pictures!
OMG I love the family pic(k) at the end with the finger in the nose! Classic! LOL Looks like a fun weekend. Your parents must be so happy to have so many joyous grandchildren to dote on.
Why did that photo of Jeremy in the pool with the baby GIRL in his arms just make my heart melt? I audibly said “Awwww” and my office mates all stared at me. Keep having babies, Katie – that man of yours needs a “Daddy’s girl”.
He wants one but he might have to settle with just the most adorable nieces and future daughter-in-laws 🙂
xo – kb
Weston looks so much like Will now, right?!
The strap is a good idea! I’ve been drooling over this Etsy shop for awhile:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/bluebirdchic?page=1
Just wanted to chime in to say thank you for sharing! I’ve been following your blog since the pre-Will era, and it’s such a delight to watch your adorable boys and their cousins grow up. My parents, sister, in-laws and I all live far, far away from each other, so it’s fun to live vicariously through all of your big family gatherings!
Looks like you had a great fourth! I love that all the kiddos are running around together. I was an only child growing up and was always surrounded by adults. This looks like so much fun!
Everyone looked great! Love the idea of a parade and the awesome memories you are making.
Another vote for mirrorless! I switched from a Canon 70D to a Fuji XT1 with the 35mm 1.4 lens, and absolutely love it. The colors it produces SOOC are amazing!! It is lighter and smaller (with the 27mm 2.8 lens it could even fit in my husbands pocket, but I discovered I couldn’t function without at least a 1.8 f-stop, ha!) and I love the retro look it has too. It still has a fast focus (not as fast as the 70D [or Mark III, I’m sure] but I’d say comparable to a canon rebel?). Fast enough to catch kids in action and catch those fleeting newborn smiles! My only negative is that it eats up battery fast, but that is not a big deal to me to carry around extra batteries.
I have a Canon 30D and it became known as my ball and chain because it was such a pain to take on family outings. About a year or two ago I purchased a Canon M…. it is fabulous and I still get to keep my Canon lenses (with adapter). Look into it! It’s great to throw into a purse along with a lens, so lightweight!