Turning 4 and Celebrating the 4th

First of all, Blogger is having some issues and I can't seem to get pictures in the correct places. So, I'm going to tell the story and the pictures will be out of order to follow. Bare with me. = )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This was our second year going up to our friends brother's house in Merced for the 4th of July and Mary's birthday. Mary turned the big 4 on the 2nd. She is a solid 39 pounds and 41 inches tall.
We got up at 5 on Saturday to start our drive up to Merced, AKA: Lake Tittykaka.
Mary had taken 3 swim lessons before we had gone up. We hung out in the pool all day long and Mary was a fish all weekend long. She did not want to get out. No matter how bad her teeth were chattering from being cold, she did NOT want to get out. It was really cute. She started with her floaty ring and her arm rings. Then she moved on to using her life vest. Then she was brave enough to just be with her arm floaties. And she even got good enough to use her kick board. We were so proud of her.
There is a man made lake on their property with ducks and fish. Mary was very excited to go fishing with daddy. We got her a barbie fishing pole for her birthday. She sat there and got bord w/in 5 minutes. It sounded more fun than it was. haha Kevin did catch one catfish. He was pretty proud of himself. I missed the picture of that.
On Sunday for the 4th we had a parade around the lake. It was decided, in April, that Kevin was to be the queen of the parade. So, he brought his wig and dress and was the queen of the parade. It was pretty funny.
We did a little quick celebration for Mary's birthday with cupcakes and singing. She got a Barbie big girl bike, which she loves to ride.
It was a fun fun weekend of friends and family. We had a great time hanging out. The girls were super good and had a great time as well. Can't wait to go back next year!!