Life with the Ball's: 4th of July

We had a great 4th of July and hosted our last big party at our house. We started the day off with a trip to Gooseberry Beach in Newport. Thamina, {another BYU roomie} flew up for the weekend and joined us for all the fun. The weather wasn't awesome but it didn't rain as was predicted so we were happy.
We invited several families to join us for a barbecue in our backyard later that night and Randy and I worked hard to make the yard look awesome. We hung red and white lights over the patio and strung white lights around our umbrella on the deck. We have blue hydrangeas in full bloom so I picked handfuls of them and filled mason jars as center pieces.
I love 4th of July food! Eating a ton of yummy salads and desserts is a perfect meal in my opinion. Often I don't even eat a burger because there just isn't enough room and I'd rather eat more of the side dishes.
After our big meal we walked over to the baseball fields behind our house for a low-key game of baseball. Nothing more American than that! And for the record, it is interesting to note how many kids have no clue how to play baseball. I think soccer has taken it's place. It was hilarious watching the younger kids awkwardly hold a bat for the first time and they never knew what to do after hitting the ball. My generation has failed as parents! As the sun set {lucky for us that means 8:30pm} we set off our own fireworks in the backyard while we ate dessert {strawberry pie and tres leche cake}. We had a great time and Parker was the only kid to get burned by a sparkler. God bless America!