Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

I have several pictures I want to share, so I'm trying to share a few at a time without overloading everyone with a mass of pictures.

Today I figured I'd share some pictures from the 4th of July fireworks and fun on the riding lawn mower.  With Uncle Aaron and Aunt Carissa home, there was a lot of fun to be had! :)

Our 4th of July fireworks were postponed from the 4th of July weekend because of the rain that Sunday.  The following weekend they were held out at the airport.  Last year the fireworks were launched from a different location because of a mishap the year before.  We tried to watch them from my mom's house, but they were hard to see.  The airport was a great place to watch!

This is the first time Xander's really seen anything like fireworks. Last year he was asleep by the time they were launched, and he probably wouldn't have known where to look anyway.  This year, they were just far enough away that the bangs and booms were somewhat muffled, so you mostly enjoyed the lights and flashes and pretty colors.  Xander ooh-ed and aah-ed with the rest of us. :)  He had fun pointing and babbling - definitely an enjoyable experience.

Here are a few pictures before the fireworks were launched.

My aunt & Me

Great-Grandpa Dewey & Me

Emma & Me

One of the things Xander got to do while Carissa and Aaron were home one night was to take a little ride in the wagon for Carl's lawn mower.  Aaron drove and Carissa and Xander rode in the back. Up and down and back and forth they rode around the yard.  Carissa and Aaron pointed out trees and leaves and flowers.  Although they couldn't see it, Xander was grinning the whole time. :)  Although, I'm not sure who enjoyed it more, Xander....or Aaron and Carissa?  :)

When Carissa came home, she also brought with her tadpoles.  As part of a science unit and to learn about life cycles, Carissa bought some tadpoles for her classroom. They were supposed to mature to frogs in about 6 weeks.  Well, we're well past that now, and the 2nd tadpole FINALLY got his legs a couple days ago.  Very soon he will lose his tail.  Before that, though, Carissa had 1 frog and 1 tadpole at the house.  Every time we went to Mom's house, Xander would ask to see the tadpoles.  Yes, he asked for them by name. :) 

And on the last day Carissa was home when the tadpole got his legs, we attempted to get Xander to say frog.  But that's a difficult concept to get, especially when we've all been calling them tadpoles for a month! So here's a picture of the first frog after he got his legs (at the end of June/beginning of July).  Xander loved watching these little guys.  Carissa's classroom is really going to enjoy these little guys. :)