The Fourth of July

We all enjoyed a relaxed morning and waffle/bacon/eggs family breakfast as a start to our 4th of July!  It was amazing!  Then we got ready to bike/walk to the spot we saved the day prior along the parade route.

Larkyn rode in the stroller with the water, hats, and snacks ;)

The big kids biked :)

Our parade spot!

Our parade "neighbors" brought chalk and let us use it while we waited for the parade to start!  What a great idea - I'll have to file that away for next year!

I love this picture of Daddy and kiddos watching the flyover of the military planes!

Family Pic

Sweet Larkyn climbed into Daddy's lap when things got noisy ;)

 It was a fun...but HOT parade.  We had a little hiccup when Colton got heat stroke part way through (either that or too much water...but the family next to us had the same symptoms which made us think heat stroke).  We "almost" made it to the bathroom before he threw up, but thankfully it was a quiet, private rocky area.  A nice lady brought us napkins and a large cup of water, and from that point on we kept Colton drenched!  As soon as he was wet, he perked up quickly!  After the parade we headed back home to air conditioning and food and to change into our Loons gear!  Daddy had tickets for our whole family to go watch the MN soccer team play!

Watching them warm up.

It was HOT and direct sun (heat index 95 degrees).  I was most worried about Colton, so I dunked him with water multiple times and kept him constantly wet and kept asking him how he was feeling.  We also bought the kids snow cones AND Dilly Bars (They were shocked we got them TWO desserts haha!)   Anything to keep cool!

Cutest Loons fans there are, despite the heat!

It is really fun to watch Summer get into the Loons game!  Besides Paul, she knows the most players by name and is by far the best cheerer!  I love this video of her:


After the Loons game got done, it was practically fireworks time, so we decided we may as well make this the first year we tried for family fireworks since everyone was up past their bedtime anyway!  We quick ran home for snacks, blanket, bug spray, and a dry change of clothes for the kids (they were soaked with how many times their mama and them dunked themselves with water at the game to stay cool haha!), and drove over to the best viewing spot in our city for fireworks, Johnny Cake Ridge Park.  The kids had to walk a ways from where we parked and I was impressed at how well they did!  We were all excited to be all together for fireworks for the first time!  I think its fun having kids get older...so many more things you can do together!

 Sweet Larkyn fell asleep in Daddy's arms on the long way back to the car, and we successfully buckled and unbuckled her, and got her ready for bed without her hardly waking up!  Big day for a no-napping-just-turned-3-year-old and she did great!  I have so many wonderful family memories from this 4th of July, and I am so grateful for freedom and for family.  Happy 4th!