Fun on the 4th

We had a fun 4th of July this year. We started by going to our neighborhood parade and program. Parker brought his bike, Dallin brought a tricycle, and McKay brought a scooter. We were doing okay until we hit the first corner. McKay started complaining that his leg hurt and Dallin was going so slow that I knew we were going to get seperated from the rest of the parade soon. I told McKay to go back to the start where Aaron was, but he didn't want to go alone. So then I tried to convince Dallin to come back with McKay and I, but he wanted to keep going.

I ended up taking McKay back to the start and let Dallin keep going by himself. When I got back to the start I asked Aaron to go look for Dallin. I was convinced that he was going to end up lost and crying somewhere in the neighborhood. He was going so slow there was no way he was going to catch up with everyone else. Aaron headed toward the end of the parade route to see if he could find Dallin. Well, he didn't have to look very long because Dallin was just one street away, in front of the whole parade!! We don't know how that happened, but we were just glad that he wasn't wandering around by himself! Hopefully by next year he'll be riding a two-wheeler.


After the parade we all gathered on the Harvey's lawn for a patriotic program. My cub scouts led the flag ceremony and we sang America the Beautiful. McKay was supposed to get up with Morgan and Bennett to recite the Preamble but was too shy. It worked out though, the other kids did a great job.


We spent the rest of the morning and afternoon cooling off at home. Then we headed over to Peoria for dinner and fireworks. My sister's mother-in-law invited our family to join their celebration. It's the third time that we've been able to join them on the 4th of July. We have such a fun time there! This year they rented a huge water slide, a snowcone machine, and had a popcorn machine as well.

When we arrived we ate dinner and then the kids quickly changed and headed for the water slide. They were going non-stop for the next hour on the slide. I think Aaron was the biggest kid of all though. He was going crazy on that slide! Pushing kids down, sliding down on his feet, back, and stomach, and doing flips. I don't know what got into him, but if you want to make Aaron happy, rent him a giant water slide!



After about an hour on the slide the rental time was up and the slide was taken away. So the kids moved into the pool. Dallin and McKay swam all over the pool, as long as they had a noodle tucked under their arms and Parker kept busy diving for his torpedos. The water was perfect and the kids wouldn't even get out when cake and ice cream was served.

We stayed in the pool to watch the fireworks that were going off at the Peoria Sports Complex. That is definitely the way to watch fireworks in Phoenix! It was fabulous. After they were over, we dragged the kids out of the pool, changed, and headed for home. We were all ready for bed that night! Happy birthday America!