Fourth of July

We had a wonderful Fourth of July this year.  In the morning, we started off at the Lenexa Parade like we did last year.  This year though, Daddy was able to come with us!  

 We came prepared this year with bags for the candy that some of the parade walkers throw out.  It was fun to see Lana and Janae again walking with Gwyn and the girl scout troop!  A favorite of the kids were the men that drive mini cars and make figure 8's in the street as the parade goes by.

 It was a nice morning and wasn't too hot considering it was July 4th!  After the parade, we came back home and I made a banana/strawberry/blueberry trifle to take to our Fourth of July celebration with Gwyn's neighbors.

 Gwyn's neighbor, Anne, hosted their neighborhood party this year and we were very happy to be invited and included!  It has become our July 4th tradition and we enjoy hanging out with them.  After some hot dogs and hamburgers, they got out the slip and slide and the kids had so much fun with that!

 Then it was time for some fireworks!  We brought our own for the first time, and Darin supervised the kids and their first experience with a "punk" and lighting some simple ones.  I think both kids are lighting a smoke bomb in these pictures.

 Here is an idea how how many of us were there.  Lots of kids and grown ups...such a great group of people. We had some bigger fireworks that the grown ups and older kids set off, and we were happy that nothing seemed to disturb the neighbors too much.

This was a neat idea...to end the evening we saved some of the fountain fireworks and these sparklers.  Someone had the idea to let the kids hold the sparkler through a cup so they wouldn't get any sparks from the flame on their skin.  That made me feel more safe too. :)  During this time too, the fireflies came out and Nolan had a great time catching them and chasing them.  He was more interested in the bugs than the fireworks for awhile!

We had a fun Fourth of July together as a family.  It has been an unusual summer with our packing and moving into an apartment, but we are trying to make the best of it with new experiences and continuing with our traditions.  The kids are having a blast, and that is outweighing any discomfort we might be feeling. Summer is going by so quickly!