Fourth of July!

What a fun, crazy, wild fourth of July we had this year!  Clint was off, which made it oh-so-much-more-fun than it otherwise would have been. :)  Due to some car troubles earlier in the week (more on that to follow), we had to fit in buying a new car (!!) between the parade, brunch & bounce house party, and an evening BBQ/fireworks-watching party.  Luckily, the kids did great--both stayed up until 10:30 that night and were so much fun all day.  We were exhausted, but it was an awesome day.

We started off the day right: putting on our red, white, and blue before heading to the parade.

Charlie is obsessed with the song, Grand Old Flag (thank you Papa), and Grand Old Flags themselves (all American flags are "Grand Old Flags," not just "flags").  He marched around singing allllll morning. :)

Daddy and Evie getting ready for the parade...

Our patriotic kids were ready to finish pictures and get down to the parade!

We met up with the Jordans, Stoltzes, and a few other couples at our best, shady, parade-watching spot.

Guess who was super excited to learn that there were RANGERS in the parade? 

Miss E was thrilled when she figured out they were throwing candy at her.

This duck made quite the impression on the kids--it veered all over the road and they were appropriately terrified. :)

The old-timey fire engine looked cool...until it blasted its super-loud siren...

...then Evie decided she was "all done!"

Notice poor Evie still hanging back.  She ran away when the fire engine blasted its horn and it took quite a while to coax her back.

Still unsure (but holding tight to her sucker in case things improve).

Another Ranger!  What luck!

Our family. :)

We moved from there to a parade-watching/bounce house/water slide/brunch down the street.  Charlie was sooo excited when he saw this thing set up.  He could not get into his swim suit fast enough.

Evie jumping...cautiously. :)

Charlie racing up to the slide...not cautiously. :)

After naps and several hours of car shopping/buying, we headed out to the DAC with the Jordans for an awesome BBQ dinner and fireworks-watching party.  This was the highlight of the day (and for Charlie, maybe the year).  There was this awesome bounce house obstacle course...

...and the pool...as well as lots of food, glow necklaces and sticks (thank you Bethany!), tons of kids to play with, and fireworks.

Charlie got a little nuts in the bounce house.  I heard a little girl run out, saying "it's getting crazy in there!"

Evie, Palmer, and Charlie, getting ready for fireworks...these glow necklaces were quite the hit (and extremely useful--I think we would have lost Charlie several more times than we did without them :).

Fireworks!

It was our first time to stay up for fireworks, and I was so glad we did.  Both kids loved them.  Evie cried for a few seconds when they first started, but once she realized they weren't so scary, she settled in and loved them.  She was in a trance the entire show.  Charlie loved them too, but was equally interested in watching fireworks/running around with big boys playing nearby.  

Happy Fourth of July (a bit late) to all of you!