Happy 4th of July!

I'm not as quick as I used to be with putting the blog pics up but at least we are still in July!

We celebrated the day of stars and stripes playing in South Carolina. Now, South Carolina can be like entering a whole new world. It has a bit of a rougher flavor to it and in order to truly appreciate it here are three things that you all must know about the good people of South Carolina.

1. They love their guns.

While we were driving through the country we took a wrong turn. That road was a dead end but this was the building we saw on the left.

And this is the building that was directly across from in on the right. I bet those postal workers are always on their best behavior!2. They REALLY love their guns...and they aren't afraid to use them.

Last week we heard about some crazy serial killer loose in South Carolina. The prevalent mood of the South Carolinians was one of 'get him before he gets anyone else" (which they did, by the way. He was shot down dead a few days ago.) Here are some of my favorite quotes from the paper before they got 'em.

The latest killings have residents on edge, with "their guard up and their gun handy," said state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney.

"If someone breaks into my house, I'm armed and ready," said Mike Daniels, 53, a retired Army sergeant. "And I won't hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later."

The sheriff reminded people they have a right to protect themselves and advised salesmen and others to avoid knocking on strangers' doors with so many on heightened alert.

"People are going to start shooting at shadows," Blanton said.

They say the police got the guy in a stand off but it wouldn't have shocked me in the least if it was a sweet old grandma with a walker. You don't mess with folk from the south.

3. They love their fireworks almost as much as their guns.

In NC we are known for our Banking. In SC, they are known for making fireworks. As soon as you cross the border you'll see signs and stalls selling them all year round. They also have extremely lenient laws concerning fireworks. As in, practically no laws. With this in mind our stake decided the best place for the 4th of July celebrations would be at the South Carolina building.

There they had a day long celebration full of baseball, volleyball, watermelon eating competitions, potluck food & BBQ, music and of course, fireworks. The firework show went on forever! They were the serious ones that you usually see during a city firework show. We kept thinking that the show was over and they'd start a whole new song.

Ethan played his first real game of baseball. Actually, he mostly watched the game. Every time I looked away from the game he'd shout out, "Mom! You're MISSING it!" Finally I asked if he could hit the ball which he did. First try. He made it to first and was hit from base to base until he made it home. He was so proud of himself. I was pretty proud of him myself.

My babies decided to join the kid's table in the watermelon eating contest. Ethan went to town on his watermelon with frequent fervent glances over to the other kids. Austin calmly worked his way through his...really savoring and tasting each bite. Alaina attacked her slice with steely focused determination. If only that girl had a bigger mouth, she would of had that contest in the bag. As it was she and Ethan both were serious contenders but some 10 year old ended up winning. Boo!

Here are my angels before the contest began. (notice the clean shirts :)
And during...

And even though Alaina knew she didn't win, she was determined to finish the slice of watermelon anyways. There really is no deterring this girl. Here she is with her finished slice.

And because you really need a little more watermelon stuffing footage in your life...



I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th!