Happy Fourth!

So we, once again, went to Coulee Dam for the 4th. My grandma still lives there and my parents as well as some of my aunts, uncles, and cousins were there too. It was a woppin' 102 when we arrived on Thursday afternoon. As soon as we checked into the motel we headed straight for the swimming pool. Our boys aren't the most adventurous when it comes to swimming but they slowly (VERY slowly) got fairly comfortable in the pool.
Austin is our most adventurous one. He got to the point of going under water a few times. Dean also tried taking him around the pool but Austin wasn't too excited about that so it only happened a couple of times. He did let me take him around once and kind of tried to float with me holding him. He didn't really stretch out enough to float but he didn't scream when he tried.
Griffen would have been perfectly happy sitting on the side with his feet on the first step in the water. Each time we went to the pool I let him sit there for a little bit and then I just came up and grabbed him and took him out with me. That was usually met with much screaming and crying for a minute or two then he would relax. (Each time there was less screaming) We discovered a "fun" game to distract him too. He would help me collect leaves that had gotten into the pool. These goggles were lots of fun for him too.
Jacob seemed to be getting a little more comfortable in the pool. Dean and I took him around the pool, though at times it was met with the usual screams and panic. He liked trying out his kicks while holding onto the wall and even sometimes while holding onto Dean or me. He actually let me help him practice floating on his back too. He rested his head on my shoulder and straightened his body out. He did great!!

So the night of the 4th, there were sooooooo many people pouring into the tiny town. Dean, Jacob and Griffen found a "locals" spot and watched the laser light show and then the fireworks. Austin wasn't feeling well so I took him to the motel where he promptly fell asleep and I watched the show from the balcony of our room. The next day we had a family reunion out at Steamboat Rock but I will post about that tomorrow as there are a lot of pictures and I need to decide which ones to use. Hope you all had a great weekend celebrating our country's birthday!