Let Freedom Ring
The 4th of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Growing up, this holiday was always full of tradition, and come rain or shine I always knew what to expect; parade, fireworks, cookouts... all the standard 4th of July activities. These traditions are things that we want to continue with our our kids, so this year, (as we did last year), we made the usual rounds with our friends. Luckily, unlike other areas of the country, we were blessed with BEAUTIFUL weather, and had a great time celebrating the 4th warm and dry.
We started the day off with the Cinco neighborhood parade. Things began well enough - Isla was super excited to ride her bike and wave her flags...
But things started to go downhill as the parade progressed. Below you can see Isla getting passed on all sides...
As the parade ended, it was clear that Isla was going to be the last participant... By a LONG shot. I know that it's not a race, but I believe the goal is to stay together in a sort of parade pack. As it turned out, our parade route ended with Daddy picking up Isla and her bike and finishing strong.
The end of the parade had bounce houses with water slides, clowns, hotdogs, snow cones and anything else you could imagine, but instead of fighting the heat and the crowds, we decided to meet up with some friends at the pool.
That evening we headed out to the neighborhood fireworks. Isla and Bears eagerly awaited the arrival of her friends.
As the sun started to set, out came the poppers and sparklers...
We had a great time, but I think this picture illustrates just how far past Islas bedtime we were...
And then there were fireworks...
I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th of July!