Fireworks, Lobster, & Lots of Butter

We had a great 4th this year again at the lake.  I know it's not all about the food, but I'll be honest...for us it kind of is.  :)  We kicked off the 4th with our annual seafood boil...  It's a pretty crazy feast!  This year we had lobster, giant shrimp, sausage, sweet corn, potatoes, and sour dough bread.  This year the lobster was new...usually we do crab legs (my favorite but I can't complain about lobster can I)!  

To our surprise, Callie loved the shrimp (dipped in butter).  I think she ate 3 or 4 (see above)!

The way you do a seafood boil is you pile all the food in the middle of the table, DO NOT use utensils, and everyone has their own little dish of hot butter.  And you dip, sprinkle with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon, and dig in.  

This is what it looks like towards the end...Hey Wes, can you pass Matt some more of that butter?  :) 

You think this looks messy, you should have seen the Nutella s'mores with giant marshmallows we had for dessert!  It was raining, so we made them inside in the oven...yum...

I just caught the end of the fireworks that night.  It was wet and raining.  I got my first mosquito bite of the year I think.  

Oh, and we threw the kids in the baby pool.  I think this was little Av's first time in the pool.  

Blame it on Aunt Jasey, but Callie tried her first Pop Rocks.  It was pretty funny to hear them pop in her mouth...

And of course we had to take a few naked cousin pictures!  

That's about it for our 4th...and since I know the holiday is really not ALL about food, I just wanted to give a thank you to those who are serving our country and protecting our freedom.  Especially to my cousin Brian who has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan for almost two years total.  He is now thankfully safely home with his wife and puppy.  :)  

Happy Independence Day!