4th of July - 2012

We started off the morning at the Hanover parade. It was a bit underwhemling, but the kids got 5 pieces of candy each so...it was a win?






Then we came home a rested (and, of course, had a little photo shoot)





Ryan was being pretty hilarious behind me




Then we went to a party that someone at Ryan's work invited us to. She has a pretty house on a gorgeous part of the Connecticut River. I didn't take too many pictures because I was busy partying, it was so much fun! The first thing we did was take our family (minus Clara, there were several ladies willing to watch her for us!) out on a paddleboat. We paddled out and the kids had fun jumping off the back a few times. We ate a yummy BBQ and then once it got dark we headed over to a really fun firework show put on by one of her neighbors. It was a perfect night!





having fun with glowsticks





Kate's heart

 

Sawyer's X

 

4th of July - 2011

4th of July morning we headed into downtown Hanover to watch the parade. It was a nice little parade that had lots of fire trucks, marching clowns and people throwing candy (the only thing the kids came for). The weather was perfect for a parade!

After the parade was over we headed down the street to the Dartmouth green where there was a little fair set up. We walked in and got some free cake and ice cream from the Hanover Historical Society and then decided there wasn't much else left to do and we headed home to rest for the remainder of our long day of celebrating.

After a nice little rest we headed over to our friends house in Norwich, VT. It is a gorgeous house with a pond in their backyard where we swam and rode in canoes and kayaks.

The kids had fun catching crawdads

Kate got pretty good and was catching them all by herself!

We had a yummy BBQ after the sun went down and then the kids got to do some sparklers.

After that we headed down to the lake again for some fireworks...the kind that only Daddy's can play with! It has been a long time since we lived somewhere where personal fireworks were legal to buy and these guys got the good kind. The kind that goes up in the air and everything!

After our personal firework show was over we headed towards home and stopped in Wilder where we watched the city's fireworks

It was a day full of fun celebrating America's Birthday, with cake and ice cream and everything!

4th of July...really this time!

Last night we headed to the stake center in Sugar Land for a patriotic sing-a-long and then stayed for an awesome view of the fireworks. The sing-a-long was really fun. We got to sing, accompanied by a few instruments including the always patriotic trumpet, songs like Home On the Range and God Bless America and we even sang all the songs for the military branches and people who had served or loved ones of those who had served stood up during their song. It was really fun. Afterward we ate ice cream, cookies and ginormous blue bell popsicles and then found a place to sit outside and wait for the fireworks. We had a group of us all gathered together and, thanks to some very smart friends, the kids rode bikes around and enjoyed being in the grass and on the big blankets. The moms all played a game while the dads sat and talked until it got dark. The fireworks were close and awesome. I got some good Sawyer cuddle time throughout them because he was a little scared. He held me tight but turned his head to look and eventually he was saying, "ohhh, that big!" along with me. It was a late night but definitely worth the fireworks!

God Bless America!

4th of July 2010

We weren't quite sure if we would be able to celebrate the 4th of July today after the major, record breaking rainfall we saw yesterday. Luckily we woke up to find some sun...and a LOT of humidity. Even though it wasn't the most comfortable, we were happy everything wasn't canceled because of rain. We went to the Bellaire parade and carnival and it really was just the best way to celebrate the 4th. The parade was fun, not too short, and totally based on candy throwing. Every single person in the parade was throwing candy from the firemen to the boy scouts (a few of whom threw from a catapult) to the De Lorean club (you can't see it in the picture but there were probably 8 of them.) After my kids collected a good bag full of candy and the parade was over, we bought some tickets and let them ride some rides and eat snow cones at the carnival.

After a city-wide search for root beer flavor (which was successful finally...at a wine and beer supply store) and some rest at home, we headed over for swimming and a BBQ with some friends. This was yet another event that we thought might need to be canceled but we ended up with perfect weather (and a very full pool from all the rain the day before!) Ryan offered to empty it a little with his famous cannon balls and soon he was jumping in with both my kids.

Sawyer = pure joy

I don't know if I blogged enough about Kate's swimming lessons, but she really has become quite a good swimmer. She is strong and brave enough to jump in the pool and swim back to the edge by herself. (Although I must admit that it makes my heart jump every time!)

She likes jumping with her Daddy too.

I didn't take very many pictures at the BBQ....I guess I was busy eating...but it was delicious!! It was BYOM so we had hamburgers and tons of delicious sides and yummy desserts. Ryan made homemade root beer (it was definitely worth the city wide search!) and we had perfect weather for an evening BBQ. After the eating was done the kids ran around and played until dark while the parents could chat.

It was the perfect day full of 4th of July favorites...and we didn't even see any fireworks! We're hoping to catch some tomorrow!
Happy 4th of July!