The DeLorme Family: 4th of July

    We had a really good 4th of July this year. For years we always held a party at our house for the 4th. That was one of the hardest parts of leaving that house, was losing the great fireworks location. I still get sad about it, but have to get over it. We decided that we needed to start some new traditions.
My mom has taken Ashlyn to a pancake breakfast put on by a local fire department since she was a baby. I have never joined her before. We decided this year that we wanted to check it out and bring Dawson since he loves trucks. We got there bright and early because it gets very crowded. We had a great time eating delicious pancakes and checking out all of the trucks. We even got to watch two flight for life helicopters land. The kids loved that! We definitely decided that we will be doing that again next year. What a great way to start the 4th!
   We got home and Ashlyn and I started on the flag cake we were making for later in the day. We had a lot of fun baking it and decorating it. When we were done, Joey decided to take Ashlyn to see Despicable Me 2. I stayed at home with Dawson while he napped.
    Shortly after they got home, we headed over to my parent's house. My parent's house is near the Sky Sox stadium and still has a great view of the fireworks. I informed my mom that she would now be hosting the 4th every year. We had a great cookout with lots of great food. My parents have an awesome deck that we loving hanging out on. We just hung out while the kids ran around and had a fun time with each other. We bought some boxes of the those little poppers that you throw on the ground and make a noise. They entertained those kids for hours!
   We went out front and Joey took some great pictures of the kids. My mom, Ashlyn, Ella, and I walked to my old elementary school. We had a great time showing the girls where we went to school. Ashlyn really liked it. They also had fun at the park there.
    Before we knew it, it was getting dark. The one downside with watching the Sky Sox fireworks is that they don't go off at dusk. They go off when the game is over. It is usually always pretty late. We were amazed that Ella, Ashlyn, and Dawson all made it. They were just having too much fun running around my parent's backyard in the dark. The show was really good and the kids loved the fireworks. When the show was over, we headed right to the car. It was almost 10:45! The kids both immediately fell asleep. We had to battle traffic in my parent's usually very quite neighborhood. A lot of people were watching fireworks at our old school.
   Overall, it was an amazing day full of fun and family. I am already looking forward to next year.