The Odom Memoirs: 4th of July Weekend!

We had a very busy 4th of July weekend but it was so much fun! Rusty had Friday off and I just love when we get to have a full free day with him. We don't really do anything too special but it's nice to just spend that time together. Here is a rundown of our weekend:

Friday
Hang out playing fun "indoor" games...

This is one of Brayden's favorite games.

Head off in the car.

Brayden rocking out his Finding Nemo Sunglasses.

One of our stops, the mall. We got to just walk around and Brayden played in the play area. His favorite thing was to ride on the mini merry-go-round.

He would switch on and off from the boat...

to the train. The train was his favorite.

We stopped in some kids clothing stores wishing I had the money to get some of their really cute outfits. In the kids stores they have TV's with kids programs so the kids can sit while parents shop (pretty smart idea). With Brayden, he really gets into what he's watching and I don't know if you have seen some of the kid shows lately but they are crazy! Like, high on LSD crazy. Poor Brayden has never been exposed to these kind of shows since we don't have Television. He was in some kind of trance trying to figure out what the heck was going on!

Do you see the confusion on his face?

The funny thing is he just sat there staring with out blinking it seemed like. Poor boy, he is like me where he has permanent dark circles under his eyes, so it looks like he is a TV zombie who hasn't slept in days! haha.

Luckily we got him out of there just in the nick of time. :) We went home a spent a nice night at home with some yummy left overs from our Hawaiian Haystacks we had the other night. After such a fun day we headed off to bed. While getting Brayden to bed he decided he needed to go potty. So we go into the bathroom and Brayden sits only the potty and decided to catch up on some light reading...

It just really made me laugh! I got a less blurry picture however it would need to be censored so this one will have to do.

Saturday
When we started the day we still hadn't really planned anything for the fourth of July. However we were continuing yesterdays morning activities:

I really wanted to do something special this year for the 4th of July because although we had fun hanging out with friends last year, we didn't really do much and we didn't get to see fireworks. So I went online to see what was going on in the valley for free and a link came up saying that Rawhide was open with a chance to see a western shoot out and free fireworks. Rawhide is out in Chandler about 15 minutes away from Rusty's folks place so we thought we would see what they were up to for the 4th.

We knew they had a full house since they have the grand kids from Texas staying with them for a few weeks (Kyle and the twins Ethan ans Allison) plus their own Derek and Tiffany. However, they had no real plans so we headed over there with some fresh corn to go with hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad and apple pie. I have to say that my favorite was the grilled corn! Yummm.... Only thing missing was the watermelon.

After eating and getting all the kids ready we headed off to Rawhide. We got there around 6:15 and it felt like it was Noon! The sun was still high in the sky and it was sooo incredibly hot! We were a little bummed because online it said that Rawhide would be a fun free celebration, however, upon arriving we found out it cost $10 for anyone over 5 years old. Rusty's folks were gracious enough and offered to pay for us and in the end we were a little grateful for the price because it meant it wasn't too busy.

Here are some photos from the day.

Brayden sittin' comfy on his saddle.

With one of the awesome Rawhide workers.

Mommy, Brayden and Daddy in the Rawhide Museum in front of two old carousel horses. They were beautiful, the craftsmanship was amazing.

Brayden sitting in a buggy.

The cousins sitting together in the buggy.
Front row: Ethan, Brayden and Allison
Back row: Kyle and Tiffany (Derek had plans with his girlfriend that day so he didn't come.)

Waiting for the Rodeo to start.

Brayden excited to see the bull's!

Rusty and his Dad also waiting for the mini rodeo to begin.

This bull rider had the best ride of the night but he got injured right in front of us! He went head first over the bulls head right when the bull threw his head back. His horn hit the riders head and landed practically at our feet. He tried to sit up but went flat on his back. His head was bleeding and they called the medic out to the ring. Eventually he got up with the help of a couple of people and left the ring. It was kid of frustrating because people were running over to see the injured rider. It was like no one had any respect.

They continued the show and here is a video of another rider.

Here is the last ride of the night, if you look in the background you can see the ambulance that came for the injured rider. From the looks of what happened we think he might have gotten a minor concussion and possibly some stitches.

Here we are trying to lasso a steer. First is Brayden, then myself followed by Tiffany. After the guy actually showed me how to do it properly I did a pretty good job.

They had a fun little playground that Brayden had fun playing on and the other kids got to ride on burros. Brayden was really happy to watch the donkeys. He kept saying "donkey" while doing the sign and was say "Hee Haw". It was really cute. He even tried climbing through the gate trying to get closer to them.

As the kids waiting in line for the burros we went and found a nice spot on the grass to watch the fireworks. It was great because they had a stadium you could watch them from or the grassy area. Most went to the stadium so it wasn't very crowded in the grass area. While waiting Brayden was running around playing with some other little kids he just met. Although it was past 9 pm it still felt like it was 115 degrees outside. Notice how red Brayden's face is in all of the following pictures!

This was the best family photo we could get...

Brayden with Mommy

Brayden with Daddy

Brayden hitting Daddy in the face with a flag. This was Rusty's real reaction...not an exaggeration! Haha, it was funny.

I love Rusty's laugh!

My patriotic little boy.

He had a lot of fun playing with the flags.

Still red in the face... why does Arizona have to be so dang hot?!?!

Rusty with his niece Allison. She is hilarious! Rusty got a kick out of some of the things she would say.

Brayden sitting on Dadd'ys lap to watch fireworks for the first time.

Brayden loved them! He wasn't scared at all. He just laid back watching them, ooing and ahhing and clapping when the show was all over.

Just in case some people missed the fireworks this year here is a long and short video of some of the fireworks we saw. I know that Glendale's show was canceled this year do to the budget so I hope you enjoy them:

After the fireworks show we caught the last "Shoot out" show that Rawhide had. I really wasn't that impressed but it was still fun. Brayden didn't jump at all during the fireworks show but when they shot the guns for the first time I swear he went up at least 2 inches off of my lap. After the show we headed home and Brayden passed out in the car. We got home around 11:10 and were still hot and very tired.

Brayden completely knocked out.

He did stir a little bit during this picture and I think his face is really sad looking. He looks tired and in pain and uncomfortable. poor boy.

He slept until a little after 9 am Sunday morning which meant we got to sleep in too. It was too bad that Rusty and I both forgot we had to teach Sunday morning so we had to rush with showers and getting ready and trying to prepare or lessons (Rusty was teaching Priesthood and I had Sharing Time in Nursery for the first time since being called as the 1st Counselor). Luckily it all worked out.

Well that sums it all up. If you made it through this whole post I am pretty impressed. Hope your 4th of july was great and remember to thank a soldier for the sacrifice they made for our county and our freedom!