4th of July at Anna's

My sister lives in the cutest town. I'm in love with Franklin, Indiana, We (along with mom and dad) ventured there to celebrate the 4th. 6 adults, 7 kids, 2 cats and a dog. It was a wildly good time. 

They have the best sidewalks and trails. I found myself seeing the sunrise and sunset quite often.

A walk around the local college (Franklin College) yielded statues of Benjamin Franklin.

The local Little Free Library has Nancy Drew.... so you know it won my heart.

Mom and Dad stayed back to do some work on Anna's house, and Stratton was at work. So Lee, Anna and myself took the kids to downtown Indianapolis. We ended up renting pedalboats (the Wade's newest favorite thing!) and going up and down the canals. It was SO awesome. And the most beautiful day.

(If there's a hill, Abe will start rolling down it.)

My boat consisted of Tyler and Eli. Neither of which could reach the boat pedals. haha. Towards the end I hijacked Amy and made her help me.

Lee's boat had Will and Grayson. Grayson was the master pedaler.

Anna had Amy, Adeline and Abe... until I made Amy climb over and help me.

The kids were starving, so we ate at this walking taco/hot dog stand. It was disgusting. We all hated it. hahaha. What a waste of money. Oh well.

Marty did really well... we were nervous at first but he got used to everyone and loved having someone to play with all the time.

Amy and Adeline slept on an air mattress together. Adeline is under the gray blanket. These girls are so cute together. 

Early morning bike rides were one of my favorites.

We went to the pool one morning. The water was quite chilly. You did warm up, but after awhile got cold again. Having cold water on the 3rd of July seemed so foreign, but I guess Indiana is a little more north than TN! After several times down the water slide (even dad!) and several jumps off the high diving board, the kids were freezing and we decided to leave.

That night we went to some local fireworks. We just walked down the street and planted ourselves in a parking lot and had the best view. The fireworks didn't start until 10pm, so it was a late night!

The next day I donned my usual 4th of July scarf and we walked to church. I thought that was so cool. I love walking to things! 

Mom giving the boys the "This is the side of the sink the dishes go in!" speech was funny. She made the adults boys "learn" first and then the little boys. 

Sequence was a popular hang out game. Stratton's dad made it years ago and we played it all weekend.

Stratton and Lee blew up these massive balloons for the kids (using an airpump, of course.) Only they didn't think it all the way through. They blew them up too big in the master bedroom and couldn't get them through the door. It was hilarious. Eventually Anna figured out how to squeeze them through without popping (wow- they were loud when they popped!!) and the kids had a blast. We could have stuck any one of the kids in them. They were that big!

That night we let off our own fireworks. We started in Anna's backyard... but when one flew into her neighbors pool and another went pretty close to some massive trees... we decided to go to the local school parking lot instead. 

It was another late night... boy we have succeeded in wearing these kids out! They all slept in each morning which was nice.

I thought this picture of Will holding Abe was cute.

The way home.... we ended up taking mom and dad's car because Anna's kids are coming to us at the end of the week. By trading cars, mom and dad can bring the kids to us on their way home, saving Anna and myself the 'meet halfway and switch' drive. Mom and Dad's car is a little smaller than ours but we made it work. Tyler gets the award for most patient. Look how Amy and the dog are laying across him. And then Will is. Tyler didn't know where to put his arm. He was a trooper, that's for sure!

Before the trip we bought a little trailer thing for the back of our car. We put all of our stuff into 2 tubs and tied them down really well. This saved so much space on the inside of the car, since our newer one is smaller (space-wise) than the van was. We swapped cars and were still able to use the same system since the trailer attached to the tow hitch. 

When we got home we noticed a slight burning/melting plastic smell but initially figured it was in the air or something. It wasn't until we untied the tubs that we realized the smell was coming from them! The tub did not touch the exhaust pipe, but apparently it was close enough to melt it!

We were bummed about losing the tub, but aside from that, it seemed harmless enough. Once we started emptying the tub we realized the extent of the damage. Everything in there was smoking hot. Many things were singed. If it was plastic, it was completely melted. There was a paper calendar and book that were rather toasty.... and it was all my stuff, of course. Even my brand new shoes! Ugh!!! We are incredibly thankful though that it didn't catch on fire! I cannot imagine what that would have done. I lost a few things that I was bummed about, but so grateful that it wasn't worse. 

We realized that our exhaust pipe is under our car, thus diverting the heat out that way. Mom and Dad's exhaust pipe is up higher, almost level with the bumper. So while there were several inches between the pipe and the tub, it wasn't enough to deflect the heat. Lesson learned!!

So now we are back home and everyone is safe and sound. The washing machine is going nonstop and some of us are exhausted. We had a fabulous trip though. We packed a lot in, but that's what makes it fun!