Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Happy Valley Park

Happy Valley Park was the site of a lot of fun for our family over the weekend...

4th of July Festivities

I had to work until noon on the 4th, so we let the kids nap and made our way to Happy Valley Park around 7pm, just in time for the crazy heat to go away and enjoy the nice evening. Because several other fireworks shows were canceled this year, Happy Valley's crowd was much bigger than it has been in past years. We set up on the outskirts of the soccer field and met up with the Boxell's, the Langley's, and some friends of the Langley's. The kids ran around playing, the guys played yard games, and we enjoyed the music from the stage- which we could hear perfectly even though it was way on the other side of the park. The fireworks began around 10pm and by the time we packed up and sat in traffic, we rolled into the driveway around 11:30pm. Long, but fun night!

The kids definitely got their fill of junk food and juice... :)

Cooper and his future bride, Halzie.

Rick and Kevin enjoying some friendly competition.

VERY excited for the fireworks to begin!

Abundant Life Church in the park

What an amazing experience it was having church in the park on Sunday morning. Our church provided the stage and volunteers for the 4th of July celebration at Happy Valley Park. We normally have 5 different services over Saturday and Sunday in addition to services at a campus in Parkrose, so using the stage and field for church the next morning was a great way to celebrate community and bring all the church together. Tyson had a hard time sitting still after the music stopped, but we still enjoyed the whole experience.

This was the view from our side of the crowd, just a fraction of the hundreds of people, all gathered together in worship.

Tyson, just before he decided sitting still and quietly was not in the plan for the morning... he is definitely our little social butterfly. He spent most of the 4th and the church service walking around the blankets surrounding us, introducing himself and chatting- "Hi! I Tyson!"

After the service, we let the kids play at the splash pad and had a picnic lunch. Riley enjoyed playing in the water much more than Tyson did...
(Tyson is actually in the way background of the photo, playing near puddle)
This is how Tyson spent most of his time... not in time-out, just sitting on the bench.

Cooper got a little more quality time with his gal pal, too.

Future's so bright...

* Up next: Our night at the Drive-In *

3 comments:

Heidi D said...

Looks like a good time. :) Good picture post.

Lisa said...

What a fantastic time! I love the chub in this last picture! And it looks like he's giving you a tough look, like Mr. T or something!

It dawned on me that in my comments about how much i dislike running i may have sounded unsupportive. Please know that I think you doing this marathon is amazing and just one more way you're being a/the super mom! =)

David said...

your 4th looks like it was a lot of fun! still waiting for the drive in update!