Joshua has started to ask that we lay with him when it is time to take a nap, or for bed. We really don't mind. He will only be little for such a short time that we will take the cuddles while we can. We do try to avoid having him be dependent on having us there to fall asleep though. Usually we will wait until he is really sleepy and then leave the room so he can fall asleep on his own. The other afternoon, Joshua asked for Daddy to lay with him. Cody is a little tall to fit in Joshua's bed with him and all of his stuffed animals, the guard rails, and his blankets but he makes it work. So he climbed on in bed along side Joshua and tried to help him wind down. Apparently it worked a little too well. After quite some time, I went in to make sure everything was ok and see if I could help. I found a very tired little boy and a Daddy who had conked out beside him. I grabbed my camera and snapped a quick picture to remember the moment. It's not a great picture because I was trying to avoid waking them up, but it's enough to capture the memory. I thought that it was pretty sweet and wanted to make sure I documented these quickly passing moments. He sure is growing up fast...

Our family had a really fun time celebrating independence day. We drove down to Safford to spend the day with my family because Safford had all of their festivities on Saturday the 3rd instead of on Sunday. We started out the day at the parade down Main Street. There is just something about a small town parade. Joshua loves parades and other than the heat, he had a great time.
My mom wasn't able to make it because of the heat, but we spent the morning with my Dad, brother Richard and sister-in-law Kara. During the parade, one of the floats handed out otter-pops and Joshua really enjoyed it! Uncle Richard was a big help with the popsicle. After the parade, we walked over to the fire house to cool off a bit while we waited for traffic to die down. Joshua was one lucky kiddo and got to spend a little bit of time in the fire engines while we waited. It sure was a fun 4th of July activity.

Later that day we barbecued at my parents to avoid the crowds out at the fair grounds. The food was super yummy and definitely met the expectations for a great 4th of July BBQ. As the day wound down, we loaded up the ice chest with cold drinks, and watermelon and headed out to the fair grounds to grab a spot for the fireworks.

It was a great show this year. We park at the church across the highway from the fairgrounds because the seats are great and the crowds are much more bearable. Josh was getting pretty tired and a little cranky as the night went on, but once the fireworks started he was much happier.
And, as the day came to an end, we got Josh into jammies and buckled in for the ride home. He was out within 10 minutes. All the fun had definitely tuckered him out.

The next day, we attended church and had a quiet day. We ended the weekend by watching the Willcox firework show from our front yard. They have them at the high school which is only a couple of blocks from our house so we had front row seats. It was a great weekend!