Stars and Stripes

Of course for the 4th of July we had to dress these girls patriotically and I must say they looked pretty cute in their red white and blue.

We went to the local parade with some friends.

The highlight for the girls were the horses. I told them that if they waved they would probably get candy thrown their way. We have an entire bag full of bubblegum and tootsie rolls that assure me my girls' waving skills are up to par. The real stress was once the candy was thrown. It was a swarm of children scooping and gathering.

They handed out flags. You couldn't eat those so they were quickly cast aside in persuit of more fruitful gatherings.

We went with some good friends which made it fun.

We then came home and had pizza on the grill for lunch. It was our best grilled pizza yet so I had to document our success.

We then made our way to the park for a BBQ with friends. I had to capture Mike grilling the hot dogs on his hibachi grill. Candice made him this scab (I think that's what it's called) and it was pretty much awesome.

We ate good food, had great company and lit off sparklers. Everything a 4th should be and more. I do have to admit Julia's extra long locks make me a wee bit nervous with the sparklers waving about. Luckily we had no problems. Long locks are still fully intact.

Audrey considered it safer to keep it at an arms length. I just can't believe this is our last 4th of July in Ohio. It makes me pretty sad. I will definitely miss the humid evenings and the fireflies flitting about. Something about it feels like home and it will definitely be missed.

We then ended the night with a great fireworks show. We are thankful for a wonderful country to live in, husbands that didn't get called into the hospital and leave me stranded at the park and for great friends that helped make this a perfect 4th.

We even got luckier that the day after the 4th the Hagbergs came to visit us. We took pictures (as you remember from my previous post), got a delicious treat at RITA's, stayed up until 1:30AM chatting, went and exercised with little sleep (Kara is hard core), went swimming, had a delicious cake, had a BBQ and had a yummy dessert for Kara's birthday. Pretty much a perfect two days if you ask me.

The girls adore playing with Bexley.

So glad we could celebate with you Kara! We sure do love this family and hopefully next year we'll be close enough to each other to do it again.

Don't you love my patriotic dessert? If you're born on the 4th of July that's what you're going to get.