God bless America

 We kicked off the celebration of our nation's independence with our annual trip out to Uncle Ron's.  Green Grandpa loves to take us out on a hayrack ride through the preserve.  Sarah & I opted out this time, but the big kids had a blast with Daddy despite their newly mosquito-bit bodies.

 We did lots of snaps, poppers, & other simple fireworks, but Rebecca was most interested in catching fireflies.  These three ran around for over an hour in pursuit of them.

 Nothing says 4th of July like cooking hotdogs over a bonfire, large amounts of glow bracelets,

 & cheesy junk food WAY past your bedtime.

 After a late night, we made it just in time for the neighborhood bike parade the next morning.  It's always a simple, fun time.  We bumped into two of Rebecca's classmates... one who moved in recently down the street & another who's grandparents live nearby.  Such a nice surprise!

Sarah enjoyed her first parade (even though she didn't get a popsicle at the end). 

Happy 4th of July!

Gimme some candy

 We made our annual trek to the county parade with Darren's family.  It's always a great place to see lots of familiar faces of both family, friends, & former students/co-workers!  I love it for that reason. 

 There aren't a lot of thrilling floats, mainly just lots of locals in their cars/tractors with a few decorations.  But the candy, OH the candy!  It comes flying from everywhere.  Need some?  Come on over!

Since we hadn't had enough sugar, we went down for the free ice cream social at the fairgrounds afterwards.  Yummy.  :)  We were also able to see some of our niece & nephew's exhibits, which is always fun.  Such a lovely night!

4th of July

 For the 4th year in a row, we attended our neighborhood Independence Day parade.  We spent a few hours the day before decorating our bikes & scooter to ride.  Here we go...

 It's such a fun group of neighbors & so low-key that it's right up our alley! 

(not that we have an alley, but you know what I mean)

 Andrew was off like a flash, Teresa was riding FAST but looking everywhere but forward!  I felt like I was human bumper pads & she was the bowling ball all the way down the street.  :P  If there just weren't so many friends, puppies, & decorations to look at...

 Rebecca spent a long time on her bike.  This photo doesn't really do it justice.  It turned out so cool! 

 Neighbor Caleb was seriously decked out (especially with the red, white, & blue popsicle goo covering it all!)

 What do you do when your hands are all sticky from a popsicle?  That's right, PET A DOG.  Mmm.  Then have it lick off your hands.  I actually laughed aloud at myself at this point.  I would have completely flipped out at that identical situation just a few years ago.  No more first-time-mommy-alerts in me!

 The rest of the day we just played at home & enjoyed the "show" around our house.  It was actually a lot of relaxing fun.

 The kids had been begging to camp out (in the basement) so we figured that would be the perfect night.  They were already tired from a late night prior & it's quieter down there than upstairs amid the artillery outside.  They loved it!  Thanks for the idea, Stephanie!

They all wore their glow necklaces to bed.  It was nice to peek in at them & know where they were!

Everybody loves a parade

More?

More fun! The Wahoo parade!
Grandma Jisa & Great Aunt Alyce were our special guests
Neumann marching band

***

Monsignor, Jenn, Sr. Karen Marie, & I celebrated the 10th anniversary of our trip to Europe. I can't believe it's been that long already! It was such an amazing experience in so many ways. Seeing Pope John Paul II, visiting the graves of so many saints (many of them incorruptible), having our hatchback fly open while driving down the autostrada, accidentally ordering anchovy pizza & having to choke it down, paying to use the WC, dancing in the rain in the gardens of Versailles... and SO many more hilarious incredible memories. Thank you for sharing it & remembering it with me!

Parade Logic

We ventured up to Wahoo for the parade on Thursday night & met up with Darren's parents. The weather was gorgeous, food tasty, company pleasant, & candy ridiculously abundant. I've never seen such a haul as the kids made that night. It helped that one of my old students tossed his entire remaining bag of goodies onto our blanket & that Darren's dad is buddies with EVERYONE in at least a four county radius. ; )

After enjoying a box of gum drops, Andrew then held up a box of Nerds.
"I guess I better eat THESE now to get all of that chewy candy out of my teeth. Gosh, I don't want to get a cavity!"