America the Beautiful

So we did a little power packing of our 4th of July this year.  We were all about sticking to tradition.  The ward pancake breakfast/flag raising started the day.  We actually missed the flag raising partly due to a pipe bursting in the house, but we did make it for the pancakes.  After that delicious start we piled back into the car to decorate the kids for our neighborhood parade.  Will joked that it was considered a death march if the parade lacked observers.  Boy are we thankful to the 7 or so people that watched and waved from the sidewalk.

Note my amazing decorating abilities to the wagon…oh so lovely, yet, you notice that Annie never actually rode in it.  She chased Hudson for most of it, begging for a ride, until he pulled away.  Only later did I find out that someone told him to follow the lead parade guy.  Apparently, he felt like following directions to a T that day.  Not only did he follow exactly behind within a few feet, but continued to follow him after the parade was over as he rode in circles and then went and talked to his wife.  One of our friends eventually detached him.

Once again we found that Poway had their great Old Fashioned 4th of July going again – period costuming and all.  The kids took a train ride, which happened to get a robbing so we ended up in a fun Old West shoot out.   Honestly, the kids were a little oblivious to everything until the gun fire started.

We got our normal picture with Uncle Sam, which Annie so lovingly confused with Santa Claus.  Will informed her that they were brothers and…she bought it!  The quilt exhibit was extraordinary as well.

Crafts turned out to the be quite a hit, but the sack races took the cake.  Annie lost control after they said, “go” and fell into fits of giggles.  I helped her out as she giggled the entire way.

Hudson took things a little more seriously and was able to hold his own through all the races.

Fireworks proved to be great once again.  Although, Hudson started asking me when it was going to be over about 2 minutes into it.  And just for the record…these pictures are all thanks to Will.  He was the photographer of the day. What fantastic firework pictures! He got some awesome shots.

Deck the House

In helping Annie understand that her birthday is soon to arrive, Hudson and I started decorating the house.  Both kids seemed to enjoy themselves and it effectively passed the time of the day.  

Now, whenever we ask Annie about her birthday she just tells you she wants the cake.

Star-Spangled

The Fourth turned out to be quite the event for us. The kids were great sports, letting me spangle them with red, white and blue ribbons, tatoos and other assorted decorations that should have been reserved for a Christmas tree.

The kids were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for most of the day.   The Rands spent the day with us so everyone had a buddy.  We love having them close by.  Hudson ran a killer 3-legged race and placed a competitive last place.

Once again we find ourselves with an incredible family picture…ha!  Will seems to be the only person ready for the moment.  Hudson showed the wear from the day in his tears and Annie just cried to fit in.