Fun on the Fourth of July

This year, we repeated the time-honored tradition of going to the big Freedom Festival parade in Provo. Thanks to Mom and Dad going the day before and laying down blankets, we had a great, shady spot on University Ave. There was a brief scare just as the parade started when it started to rain (how does that saying go? "Don't rain on my parade...?"), but the rain was short-lived and the parade marched on.

I love a good parade (or as Lukie called it, a "Hurray-ade")!

After the parade, we came back to my parents' house for some water fun. The kids had a great time splashing in the kiddie pool, running through sprinklers, and slip-n-sliding. Even little Dylan gave the slip-n-slide a try. Poor kid!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a moment of weakness, Uncle Josh agreed to let the kids break into his sacred water gun collection. This was a HUGE hit. Luke especially had a ball running around pumping his gun and shooting everyone in the leg (that's all he could reach). Poor Adam's gun was so big and heavy, he had to put it on the ground in order to pump up the pressure. But, he could not be talked into anything smaller.

 

 

Well, after a few minutes of watching the kids duke it out with the waterguns, my sisters decided it was time to join the fun. They snuck into the house and put on their swimsuits, then filled a bunch of guns in the garage and ambushed the kids. It didn't take long for Jeff and Mike to get involved, and soon we had an all-out war!

 

 

Once they were all good and wet, the grown-ups decided they ought to give the slip-n-slide a try. Some of them discovered a new talent, but many found they weren't as young as they used to be!

 

 

That night, rather than fight traffic, we had our own fireworks show in the back yard.

Mike, Jeff, and Jeff were the "fireworks guys".

When we first brought out the sparklers, Luke was intrigued but terrified. After some coaxing, he held one on his own. From then on, he was in love. As soon as his sparkler burned out, he was ready for the next one. Between the waterguns in the afternoon and the sparklers at night, Lukie thought the Fourth of July was a magical, magical day.

Jessica liked to write her name with her sparkler. Here is her "J".

Happy Fourth of July to all! This is truly my favorite holiday!