Fourth of July Festivities

We celebrated America's Independence Day with our kids the way I grew up celebrating it. We spent the actual day with my family attending the local parade, having a BBQ with friends, and ending the night watching fireworks.

We couldn't have asked for better weather for watching the parade. We were joined by my sister and nephew. It was adorable watching him, at two-and-a-half, take in all the tractors and big trucks- reminded me so much of Ian at that age.  Ian was all about collecting the candy. Annaliese would go between collecting the candy and snuggling with Darrin or Grandpa. They, of course, loved eating the candy. We got Ian to try a sour candy, and I had the camera ready to capture his reaction. He puckered his face and drank lots of water, but never spit it out.  

After lunch and nap, we went to visit my parents' best friends. They were like my second family growing up, and I love getting together with them. While we were there, the kids went on lots of gator rides (they were always the passengers, but had fun playing on it, too). Since we were all color-coordinated, I tried to get a family picture. It didn't work to get all four of us... I couldn't even get just the two of them, but they happily sat with Grandpa and Grandma. 

Then it was off to watch the fireworks... and for me to play with the settings on my camera. I captured Annaliese having fun with the sparklers (Ian did one, but was scared of the flying sparks and didn't try any more after that).  I got a few cool shots of the fireworks, but most of them weren't great because I forgot the tripod.  This was Annaliese's first time ever seeing the fireworks. Every time they launched some, she'd say, "Did you see that one? How about that one?! They're so pretty!" It was on constant repeat for the first few minutes, but eventually it turned into, "When is it going to be done? I'm cold. I want to go to bed."  That was, until the grand finale, and then she fell in love with them again.