4th of July

   We started our 4th of July celebrations a day early this year.  Since we no longer live near the baseball stadium, we now go to my parent's house to watch the fireworks.  Last year traffic was so bad after the fireworks, we decided that this year we would just stay the night.  The Sky Sox had their fireworks on the 3rd.  We all headed over to my parent's house early for a day full of fun. The kids had a great time running around their grandparent's house and playing with one another. My mom bought them a bunch of new games to try and they had a great time,  We made a flag cake and red, white, and blue rice krispy treats. 
    That evening, we had a cookout with burgers, potato salad, and all the usual bbq offerings.  The weather started to get kind of bad and it rained.  Rain is great normally, but not when you want to sit outside and watch the fireworks.  Since the fireworks are after the game, there is never any telling what time they will go off.  The kids were getting pretty tired at this point, but they really wanted to see the fireworks.  Ashlyn and Ella were the only troopers left.  The fireworks usually go off immediately after the game.  The game ended and we waited, and waited, and then finally decided it was getting to be too late.  The kids were just beat.  So, we all headed inside.  Right after we went inside, they started to go off.  I ran back outside to watch with Joey.  We later found out that the rain delayed everything.
   Despite staying up very late, we were up bright and early the next morning for another 4th of July adventure.  We headed down to Security for their annual pancake breakfast to benefit the fire department.  This year Katy and the kids came too.  The kids always have a good time.  It's kind of neat because Security has such a small town feel which is great for the 4th of July.  There was actually quite a bit to keep the kids occupied.  We stayed for a few hours, but needed to get going to our next adventure which I will post next. 

Checking out the new games

Frosting the flag cake

Such good little helpers

The finished product

Silly girls

My mom got them neat popsicles to try. 

Graceyn had too much fun!

Eating together

Miss Gracie's patriotic outfit

All ready to go

Enjoying some pancakes

The helicopter coming in

He was really having fun

They had a giant snake that Dawson actually did touch, but he touched it so quickly I didn't get a picture.

Ella got her face painted

Dawson got a firework too

Bunny face Ashlyn

Ashlyn trying the dunk tank

Here are the kids in the Flight for Life helicopter. It's neat to see one and see how small they are. 

How patriotic is this shot???

Touring a real firetruck