4th of July 2016

We had an awesome 4th of July which we kicked off with a 5k at 7:30 that morning. Then we headed out to McDonald's for breakfast, our post-Firecracker 5k tradition. After eating we headed straight over to a neighborhood by my parents' house for a neighborhood kids' parade. Elise and Carter had so much fun walking in it and a dad carrying his son's ride on car, gave it to Carter to ride. It was adorable watching the kids in the parade. At the end we said the Pledge of Allegiance and then sang Happy Birthday to America. We followed the crowd down to a house where they were serving cookies and lemonade for the kids. Elise still wanted to walk around so mom and I walked home with the kids while dad stayed to talk to friends and then drove the van home for us. Elise walked the whole way until she wiped out on a brick sidewalk and got a nasty goose egg on her forehead so I carried her the rest of the way home. Due to all the rain there were tons of puddles and lots of mud which led to two very dirty but happy children when we arrived home.

Carter was desperate to do some more fireworks so we headed outside after showers. We had done evening fireworks the night before because we knew we'd have to leave before dark on the 4th since Ty had to work Tuesday. We picked out all fireworks we knew wouldn't make much noise because Carter doesn't like loud noises. We picked up some parachutes but he thought even they were too noisy! We stuck with mostly sparklers, smoke bombs, snakes, and some fountains and Carter loved it. His favorite was a "naughty doggy" Oma picked out for him that pooped the same stuff as what the snakes are made of. We ate lunch outside as we did fireworks and then headed in for naps. Elise seemed somewhat indifferent to the fireworks but she did want to play with the snakes after they cooled off. Carter played with them too and then covered his ears while neighbors shot off loud fireworks so he ended up with black on his ears and side of his face. Between that and a special red, white, and blue doughnut Oma and Opa had picked up for him, he was a mess!

Elise eating lunch as she watched Carter do fireworks.

Carter's special doughnut from Oma and Opa.

One messy and tired boy ready for a nap once he was cleaned up!

Elise had gone down for an early nap and Carter only slept for about 45 minutes so both kids were awake earlier than usual even though Elise napped for almost 3 hours! I felt like we had more time due to that and tried to pack in a bit too much that afternoon. We went out to the park for vendor booths and Kiddieland, an amusement park for kids. Carter enjoyed riding rides and then talked us into a snow cone on the way to the car. He was pretty well behaved and had even gone potty in a yucky portapotty so we agreed to the treat. From there we headed to visit my friend and her twin boys who are 3 months older than Elise. They were playing in a kiddie pool in the backyard and I wasn't prepared for that so both kids ended up soaked and muddy. When we got home dinner was ready and right as we were getting ready to eat Erin stopped by with Addison and Hayden. We attempted a picture of all 4 kids together like last year but it resulted in both girls crying and trying to run away so we gave up. After dinner I gave the kids their special 4th of July glow sticks I'd picked up at Wal-Mart and then we were headed home. Neither child was able to sleep in the car so they were both awake when we got home at 9:30 but thankfully fell asleep quickly and easily once their heads hit the bed. We had a wonderful Independence Day celebration and an even better long weekend of fun and celebrations. More on our weekend fun to come!

Riding the boats at Kiddieland.

Riding an airplane at Kiddieland.

Carter playing with Graham.

Sweet Addison excited to see everybody.

Carter and Hayden playing together.

Carter reading books on the way home.

When Carter was 18 months old I made 4th of July shirts using his handprint and footprints to make an American flag. He has worn the shirt for the past 3 celebrations, so I had to use picmonkey to create a collage to compare him wearing his shirt each year. Since I did that I just had to do a comparison of Elise last year and this year. I made sparklers using her handprint and footprint to make race shirts for me and Ty in the 5k and added it to the back of everyone else's shirt. For some reason it didn't even occur to me to make one for her. I guess because she already had a July 4th shirt. Sorry Elise, maybe next year! Read about last year's 4th of July here, 2014 here, and 2013 here.