Celebrate Good Times... (come on!)

The PARADE

Well... we are big believers in celebrating our holidays to the maximum so - here we are with all our bells & whistles at the big 24th of July parade. I can honestly count on 1 hand how many times I have missed the good ol' "Main Street Parade". I'm fairly certain that if it weren't for these cute little faces every year, I most definately wouldn't go to all the efforts that I do to make this happen.

And when I say "efforts" I'm talkin' about these 4 lovely ladies gettin' up at 4:30... (ya, that's FOUR-THIRTY A.M.) and haulin' all our chairs, blankets and rope down to our favorite Baskin Robins spot just to make sure we have a nice place for our families to watch the parade.

Hals typically just sits contently in her chair the entire time, while all the other kids rush back and forth racing to get as much candy as possible. I think competitions are a little overwhelming for this little princess. She gets a little flustered when there is any pressure put on her to make anything happen. So... this is where she sat most of the time... or on mine or Daddy's lap.





But don't worry. While Hallie is just hangin' back... the boys are always busy cheering for each and every possible thing that goes down the street. They loved every second of it. They scored with candy, and even some awesome toys! It doesn't get better than that. Who cares about the fact that it was hotter than blazes and we were exhausted... (more "efforts") by golly - we were gonna be at this darn parade.

I'm not sure that Ashlyn or Cole had any idea what was going on. They just kept looking around wondering why there were so many people and what the big fuss was about. I think Ash was a little bit in shock.

The Fireworks

And of course, it wouldn't be the 24th without headin' up to Grandma's house for the best fireworks display ever! We are so lucky to have the perfect spot to watch in my Grandma's front yard. I have the best Grandma in the whole world who sets up tables with popcorn, ice cream and drinks for anyone and everyone (heavy on the everyone) I decide to bring up. Thank you, Grandma - for letting us invade your yard yet once again. We had a lot of fun.

Once again... the faces say it all!

FRIENDS

Have I mentioned what great friends I have? Our friends are like our family these days. I can't seem to plan an event without them. They are the best. We are very lucky to have so many good friends who are always around us.

Thanks for coming, guys!!

The CARNIVAL

What the heck, let's get up the next morning and head down to the park for the carnival! Ya, so maybe we bought a whole bunch of tickets and then realized that we were all getting a little dehydrated and sunburned. I looked down at the kids and realized that the sun was imobilizing them. (I'm a good mom) And after being told that my baby looks sunburned several times, (I'm a good mom), I finally decided to give my last tickets to Ang and head home. (Good thing I talked Ross into going!) Ya... I don't have good judgement about these things lately.

Happy 24th of July Y'ALL!