Fourth of July in Tricities 2015

Our annual fourth of july in the tricities was a blast! Per usual, we spent the long weekend staying cool by the pool, eating fabulous food, and leaving the kiddos with grandma and grandpa for a date or two. Prior to the fourth of July weekend, Isaac had been in tricities vacationing with grandma and grandpa, so we were especially excited to reunite with him. Here are a few snapshots of the weekend.

Oliver LOVES the water!

Fourth of July in Tricities 2014

This year, we were back in the Tri-Cities for the Fourth of July. The long weekend was made up of the usual festivities -- hours upon hours of swimming in the pool, visiting Grandma's quilt store, lighting fireworks, helping Grandpa build stuff in the shop, visiting with family, watching a lot of soccer, and eating lots of great meals.

Happy Birthday, 'Merica!

Independence Day 2013 - Park City

This year we broke our four-year tradition of celebrating the Fourth of July in the Tri-Cities, and instead stayed in Park City. But, the Tri-Cities came to us! Eric's parents Debi & Don (G&G M) flew in from eastern Washington for a 4-day visit.

Park City has a notorious Fourth of July celebration, including a 70-float parade, huge city park party, fireworks, and kids activities galore-- all within walking distance from our house! We were excited to check it out, and had a wonderful visit with Debi & Don.

The highlights:

Fourth of July Fun!

Dinner at Nick's Greek

Silver Star Cafe

Grandpa Don & Isaac on the piano

Flash! He's worn this a good 4 days in a row

see? not exaggerating...

More Photos >> Click here.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Independence Day!

Northwest Road Trip (Fourth of July 2012)

Staying true to tradition, we traveled to Richland, WA for Independence Day.  We were off a full week and drove Park City, UT --> Richland, WA (10+ hours overnight).  We stayed in Richland for a couple days, enjoying the warm weather and time with Eric's parents.  Then, Eric and I (and Lodi) drove to Seattle for a quick 4th of July visit with friends and my parents. We drove back to Richland for another day or two, then we all said goodbye and headed back to Utah.  On the way home, we divided the trip into 2 days, stopping at Eric's aunt and uncles house in Boise for a night.  A whirland trip, but so fun and even all the driving wasn't so bad!

Isaac and Grandma & Grandpa Merhar

See ya later, Kiddo! We have some friends to see in Seattle.

An awesome stop-over in Boise: great company, food and some morning wakeboarding before getting in the car again!

4th of July in Tricities

The 4 steps to a successful 4th of July Weekend

Step #1:  Tire out the baby (and the dog) before the 4-hour drive to Eastern Washington, and go at nap time.

Playing at Carkeek Park Friday afternoon

Step #2:  Leave Isaac with Grandma & Grandpa for a little adult time

Cute of Debi & Don. Funny of Isaac.

Touring local wineries and breweries

Step #3: Eat incredible meals al fresco, with family and good wine

Seafood night (check out those huge lobster tails and oysters-- yum!)

Jeff, Lindsay & Debi

 Step #4: Take a dip in the pool when ever it gets too hot (we were in the pool often)

Isaac loves the water! By the end of the weekend he was jumping off the edge into mom or dad's arms, and even went down the slide a few times with Dad.

Happy Birthday, America!

Happy Birthday, America

We spent the 4th of July weekend in Richland, WA (about 4 hours East of Seattle), visiting Eric's parents. It has become an annual tradition.

Isaac embraced the holiday (did he really have a choice?)...

And we all had some quality time with Debi & Don (aka Grandma & Grandpa). Here is Isaac with Debi, and reading about motorcycles with Don:
And, Isaac went for his first swim in the pool!
And, we took full advantage of baby sitter time, and found some time to get a away for a few hours. We had lunch at Whistran Brewery and visited Terra Blanca winery in Prosser and went to dinner at Fat Olive in Richland.
Our 'other son' enjoyed the trip too! There are LOTS more pictures on our July Picassa Page (click here) -- cheers!

4th of July in Tricities

We had a great 4th of July Weekend in Richland, WA with Eric's parents. We spent most of the long weekend lounging by the pool, enjoying fabulous dinners and wine, and spending time with family. Lodi, our dog, just loved meeting Debi & Don; and I think the feelings were mutual :)

Here's Lodi in the car:


Don & Debi at Whitstran Brewery in Prosser, WA:

And Eric & I:


Lounging by the pool in their beautiful backyard:

Smoking Ribs! yum:


More pictures of the weekend on our picassa page (see also the link to the right).