We had a very busy but fun and wonderful 4th of July holiday!
Our day started off with getting everybody dressed and looking festive for the holiday!
Miss Kendall has the most adorable little get up for the day!
After we were all packed up an ready, we left to pick up my mom a town over, and then went into two to get seats for the parade, and waited for it to start! Hubs had to work, so it was just me, the kiddos, and my birth mom. We met up with our friends at the parade too. Frank could have taken the day off but I told him it didn't matter to me, it was just the parade and at crowded events like that, he gets more stressed and overwhelmed than anything. I wanted him around for the evening festivities more than the daytime stuff anyway, so I was fine with him working instead of taking off a personal day. :)
The kids were very patient waiting for the parade to start and very well behaved the whole time! They all got lots of candy, loved clapping and dancing along with the bands, waving at everyone riding on floats and walking in the parade, and enjoyed seeing the trucks, tractors, animals, and even some friends they knew from gymnastics and dance classes, daycare, and preschool!
I got lots of sun from standing outside right in it for 3 hours, but I don't mind. The kids were good, since we used plenty of sun block but Kendall still ended up with some sunburn on her face. She doesn't seem bothered by it at all though, so that's good! The parade was good, it lasted about an hour or hour and a half, which is normal for our town parade. I wouldn't mind if it was even shorter than that because my kids enjoy it no matter what, and for me, that's all that matters! But any longer, and the kids would have quickly lost interest! It was the perfect length, and perfect timing since it was time to grab some lunch right afterwards. We loaded back up in the van, grabbed some take out to eat in the AC, and then decided to make our way up to the beach! It was a gorgeous and super hot day out, so the beach was perfect! The kids had a complete BLAST playing in the water and cooling off for the afternoon! It was princess Kendall's first time at the beach too! She was beyond cute! She had some heat rash on her face from nursing at the parade and being so close to me, but she was fine other than that. I dipped her toes in the water but she wasn't quite in the mood for that. She had a bite to eat and slept the rest of the time we were there!
It started to downpour right as we were getting ready to leave the beach. It poured HARD for at least an hour or so. We were mostly ready to leave so it was fine that it happened, because it didn't end up ruining any of our fun, but we still got SO drenched from gathering everything and walking from the beach to the van. All of the kiddos fell fast asleep right after pulling out of the beach parking lot. I was glad they got a mini nap in to be rested for that evening! We dropped my mom back off at her house on our way by, and then I went home to wait for Frank to get home, unload some stuff from that day's events, and re pack some stuff for that night! The kids stayed asleep for most of the time after I got home, which made it easier to unload stuff and re pack things that we needed. It was still raining when we got ready to head up to the school where other events were taking place and where the fireworks are set off every year, but we waited in our van and popped a movie in for the kids to watch and stay entertained with. Finally, the skies opened up again with blue sky and sun, and the rain stopped for good. The kids got out and ran around...Mason in particular had BLAST running and jumping in the mud and puddles that the rain left! Our kids have had tons of mud and puddle fun lately, so they are used to it! ;)
We were going to BBQ our own quick dinner that night but decided to just buy the kids some hot dogs and french fries at one of the food vendors there. It was cheap enough and much easier than the alternative! :) Connor and Merasia had a lot of fun playing with other friends they saw from daycare and preschool, as well as friends that we hand out with regularly, Cloey, Carter, Jenn, and Terry. :) Connor and Merasia loved dancing to the live music too!
Kendall enjoyed a nice nap even through everything going on around her...
Finally, it was time for the fireworks to begin!! Merasia got a little scared of them, so she sat in our friend's van with her friend Cloey, and watched them from there. They were SO cute!
Kendall was fine through the fireworks, and either slept in my arms or was just sitting in my arms, content and looking around at whatever she could see. Connor got a little scared at first, but was fine after a few minutes and Mason LOOOOOOOOOVED every second of them! Every single time one was shot off into the sky, he yelled and screamed and laughed. I tried getting it on video but it didn't work out too well. We did get lots of photos of him though! It looks like he's crying in some of them, but he was just in the middle of yelling! ;)
We had Mason stuck in Kendall's stroller, because he kept running toward the mud and puddles after we cleaned him up and got him in new clean pajamas....he wasn't happy with it at first, but soon got over it, especially when he saw the fireworks!
The fireworks were great! Very well done again this year, especially for a little town like ours!
All in all, it was a wonderful 4th of July for us! It was full of fun, friends, food, family, and festivity, and we wouldn't have had it any other way, exhaustion and all! It was beyond worth it! I hope your 4th of July was just as good, if not better! ;) Feel free to share below! :)
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