Sunny-Side Up: Our Fourth of July Stay-cation: Part I

Happy Independence Day!

With the July 4th holiday falling mid-week this year, we decided to add an additional day to the holiday fun and have a little Cox-Fam Fourth Of July Stay-cation. I was so excited when Justin suggested he take off an extra day of work (WHAT?!!!) and play around town! We came up with a plan and prayed that our realities would live up to (at least get close to) our expectations of the FUN we'd have together!!

But before we get too far into our stay-cation fun... I thought I'd share my patriotic cuties before church last Sunday. We had a special service celebrating our GREAT country so we all decked out in our red, white and blue! :)

CUTE...

CUTER...

CUTEST???

Alright... now for stay-cation fun...

It started Tuesday night with dinner and baseball game!! Whoo! Whoo!!

BBQ and Baseball, it doesn't get more 'Merican than that, does it?!

So dinner was definitely the highlight of the evening... a GREAT little duo of a band was playing the best tunes while we dined! We were all dancing and Justin and I were singing... and it was a blast! It was great to all be silly together... I know we should cherish these moments because someday they will be MORTIFIED when their parents start singing and dancing at the dinner table... :)

Kaki was CRACKING us up with her dance moves... we should have taken a video and not pictures... she was doing this little bob up and down and then shimmy it around with her head... then she'd clasp her hands together and do a little "around the world" action... all the while smiling and laughing! She was get-ting it!! :) Go.Kaki.Go.

Once we got to the game Justin wanted a pic of he and the kids with the field in the background... when low and behold a sweet lady asked us if we wanted her to snap our pic... a fam picture? Oh my! We couldn't pass up the opportunity... and I am so glad we didn't... this picture makes my heart so happy... even though Kaki looks a bit rag-a-muffin-ish... ah, well! Sister was hot!

And she just got hotter! We bought lawn seats like we have done before when it was just Caden... but we didn't really think through the whole, fourth of July fireworks show... EVERYONE in the GREATER ROCK area would be there! EVERYONE! So we spread our blankie and hoped for the best...

And all things considered... we did pretty well. We made it to the bottom of the fourth before we called it a night! Sometimes a cold adult beverage on the couch at home with the kids safe in their beds just beats the heck out a hot, steep, ant-filled lawn alternative... just sayin'! :)

Fun dinner... attempted fun at the baseball game...

BUT today... TODAY was my perfect day! It was glorious and fabulous and wonderful and the PERFECT way to celebrate the fourth if you ask me!

We started with a hike through the San Gabriel River Trail which will be just minutes from our new stomping grounds... SO EXCITED!

We got our map and headed off, hoping to go just as far as our kids would make it!

When we were planning our stay-cation, we REALLY wanted to do some hiking/outdoor adventuring but weren't sure how we'd swing it with the Kaki-pants... until... good 'ol Amazon Prime came through with a great baby-pack with free shipping that arrived just on TIME! :) We were ready to chart off into the woods!!

Caden was ready... although I think there were certainly times towards the end of our hike where he was thinking that he got the short end of the stick not getting lugged around in the baby-pack! :)

Me and my boy up ahead on the trail...

Pit-stop for water and a breather! :)

Another pit-stop... snack break!!

For the most part the trail was covered by trees and with a nice breeze today it truly wasn't unbearable. Certainly hot, but nothing miserable. We enjoyed the bits of cloud cover occasionally too!

The trail was fun and adventurous but not too tough for Caden to navigate. It was definitely rockier in some places than others, but with some flat areas in between it gave plenty of breaks from the more "intense" hiking for the little guy!

On our way back to the car Kaki was about to fall asleep... on her arm... it was sweet!

And Caden was done... for his first time on the trail he did awesome... I was actually surprised he made it as long as he did... we were gone nearly 1.5 hours! Go Caden Go! Once we got through the tougher parts of the hike I hoisted him on my back for a while...

And then I was about done... so Daddy... the strong brut of a man that he is carried BOTH children! :)

Once we got back to the car there was a little of this...

PHEW... we made it! Our first family hike! Of what we hope to be many... :)

After burning all of those calories we felt like we had earned a nice, greasy hamburger from Andice General Store... I have been wanting to go here FOREVER and today was my day! I love a good burger and I love a small town with a good story... and Andice is just such a place. It's not far from us and at a "T" in the road. The story goes something like this. The General Store...built long, long ago... used to have a sign that read "Beer And Ice" well one day the "Beer" part of the sign fell off and so the sign read "And Ice" which later turned into Andice... as in Andice, TX... don't you just love it?

So now they serve up some of the best burgers you'll ever eat. We all chowed down! I had to stop myself midway through my first half of burger and remind myself to breathe! It was so good and we were so hungry!

After our bellies were more than full, and our bodies tired from our morning hike we headed back home for the rest of the day. We relaxed, took naps and had a light family dinner before heading back out for an in ice cream treat before bed time...

We thought very sincerely about attending a fireworks show tonight but with the shows not starting until nearly 9pm we just didn't see how it would work... especially since we have another fun hiking trip planned for tomorrow (stayed tuned for stay-cation part II)... BUT... I couldn't let Caden and Kaki go to bed without a little bit of "fire"... or glow in this case...

Glow n the Dark bath anyone?!!

In the apartment we have the PERFECT bathroom for this! Thank you Pinterest... it was a hit and super fun! We'll be doing this again! And thank you Walgreens for your red, white and blue glow sticks!