4th of July Weekend

We had been looking forward to this past weekend since moving to our new neighborhood. Originally, we had heard that our neighborhood organized a parade each year for Independence Day. Later, we saw photos from the previous year's parade. After seeing the photos, we were genuinely excited. As Geoff and Colette stated , they did not disappoint. The Pierz Family came up for the parade in the morning and stayed for the latest lunch in history (sorry guys) before heading home to pack for their trip to New Mexico. They graciously lent us their wagon for the girls to use in the parade while Alex and Lila cruised in their John Deere and Chariot, respectively. We spent the morning pimpin' the kids' rides with patriotic red, white, and blue decorations while munching on Lamar's Donuts.

A local firetruck led the parade as it meandered through our neighborhood. It was a ton of fun. The route was short and sweet, and ended with refreshments and a little neighborhood get-to-together. The socializing was short-lived in the heat of the day, but the bomb-pops helped keep us all cool. Altogether, Viv and I thought the whole event was the coolest thing. The kids seemed to have a great time and, as always, it's great to get together with friends.

Later in the evening, we strolled up the road to the south end of the community and sat in our camp chairs watching the city's fireworks display. I'll tell you what, if you have little ones, watching fireworks from 2+ miles away is the way to go. You get all the visual stimulation without any of the auditory stimulation. Last year we found out the hard way that Marielle does not like said auditory stimulation. From our vantage point both Marielle and Harper were quite enthralled with the show. Marielle was keeping all of the other onlookers entertained with her commentary:

"Oooooohhhh, I PINK one, that's pretty. Woooooo, look at the GREEN ones. Oooooooh, another PINK one."

We had one minor annoyance when the sprinkler system decided that the grassy knoll that we were all perched on was dry and needed watering. We all jumped, grabbed our gear, and ran out into the road which became our new vantage point.