This year’s Fourth of July looked a little different than it has in years past.

For the first time, both of the kids had plans with their significant others’ families.

Jayse spent the holiday in Lincoln City with Emma and her family, while Jaelee headed up to Lowman with Brennan’s family.

As strange as it felt not having either of them home, it’s also one of those milestones that reminds me they’re growing up. Their lives are expanding, and while they’ll always be our kids, they’ll naturally begin creating traditions with other people too – much to my sadness.

I had hoped to do something a little bigger this year since it was America’s 250th birthday, but sometimes life doesn’t line up with the plans you imagine.

That morning, Greg was still at the property to finishing up a few things, and I went to spend some time with my brother and my six-month-old niece – Navy.

My sister-in-law was working, so it was just the three of us hanging out for a couple of hours.

She is just the cutest little thing.

Six months has always been one of my favorite baby stages. Their personalities really start shining through. They smile more, “talk” to you, sit up, notice everything around them, and become so much more interactive.

She’s always been such a sweet baby, but she’s also reached that stage where strangers are a little suspicious.

Even though I’d seen her just the week before, she wasn’t quite sure about me at first.

It took a good thirty minutes before I was officially accepted again.

Once I earned her trust back, we had a great afternoon together, and I soaked up every smile I could get before heading home.

Greg made it back from the property later that day, and honestly, we didn’t have much of a plan.

We talked about finding somewhere to watch fireworks that evening, but first we climbed into the pool to cool off.

One thing led to another, and before we knew it, we were perfectly content right where we were.

The thought of fighting traffic, searching for parking, and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a crowd didn’t sound nearly as appealing as staying home.

So that’s exactly what we did.

As darkness fell, our neighbors put on quite a fireworks show of their own.

We watched from the comfort of our front window, bug-free, without leaving the house.

It may not have been the grand Fourth of July celebration I had imagined.

If I’m being honest, I missed having more family and friends around. Holidays just feel a little different when the kids start building lives of their own.

But that’s part of this season too.

And while it wasn’t a big celebration, it was still a good day.

I got to cuddle my niece, spend a relaxing afternoon with Greg, cool off in the pool, and end the evening watching fireworks together.

In Greg’s garden he planted onions and on top of the onions are these huge balls of flowers, they attract a lot of insects. I snagged a picture while I was walking past to the pool.

We sent this picture to the kids and got one back from each of them.