Happy Birthday America!

Happy 4th of July!  I hope everyone had a Happy and Safe holiday.  We enjoyed a fun-filled day of events, food, fireworks & time with friends.  The only bummer was that our eldest son, C, had to work all day.  So he was not able to join us.  :(  

Our day started with a quick patriotic inspired breakfast to put everyone in the holiday spirit. 

I don't normally buy PopTarts but when I saw these at the store, I grabbed them because I knew that breakfast would need to be quick and easy in order for us to make it out the door in time for the parade.  And... they fit the theme of the day.  :)  I am all about themes!!

Good Morning kids!  Let me introduce you to our daughter, B, and our son, L.  As you can tell they love early morning picture taking by Mom.  :)

Then it was off to get our spot at the annual 4th of July parade.  Which I have to say, this was probably the first year ever that we have not all simply died from the heat.  The weather was absolutely perfect!

Meet my husband.  :) (From here on out to be called, Honey.)

My Patriotic Princess waiting patiently for the parade to start....

One of my favorite things about the holidays is getting to spend time with friends, so we met up with my dear friend J and her family.  We met only a few years ago, but became fast friends when we learned that we have an amazing amount of the same interests. (Scrapbooking, event planning, volunteering, photography and of course, DISNEY!)

While there was candy thrown, B's favorite thing to collect was the beads.  Apparently, you can never have too many.  :)  "It's all about the accessories, Mom."

L's favorite was the freezer pops!

After the parade, we headed to the local street fair where we had a quick bite to eat and the kids got tattoos. Temporary ones that is.  :)  After MUCH deliberation, they settled on an eagle and a pair of dolphins.

This was the first year that we attended the festival.  In addition to the air-brushed tattoo artist, there was a petting zoo, street vendors, live music, a rock climbing wall, several bounce houses and a kiddie train.  At one point, the city sponsored booth even handed out free ice cream.  Yum!  It was a lot of fun.  Definitely something that we will do again next year.

After a brief stop at home to recoup and put the finishing touches on my contributions to dinner, we headed out to a gathering hosted by our good friends, the S family.  

I am a little bummed that I didn't take a picture of the spread that was layed out for us to dine on.  My friend N & her hubby cooked up an amazing assortment of burgers, brats, smoked pork and beef brisket.  Add to that the yummy sides and desserts, no one went home hungry.  Speaking of desserts, check out these red velvet cupcakes that N made...delicious!!

After dinner, the younger boys played Minecraft while the girls spent time testing out the Backyard Twister game that N had set up.  (Which coincidentally happens to be something on our Summer Bucket List.)  It was a blast!!  Lots of laughs were had by all.  :)

As it started to get dark , we headed up to get our seats for the fireworks display.  Being the planners that both N and I are, we had things to keep the kids occupied while we waited for the show to start.  I love that little things like noise makers ...

Glow necklaces ...  "Look Mom, it's Mickey ears!"

and sparklers still make our kids happy and content.  

Finally, the fireworks began and we all marveled at the lights and color combinations of this year's display.  

It was a fantastic day!  Happy Birthday America!