Independence Day

The heat put a damper on some of our fun this year.  I am not sure of the actual temperature, but after 5+ days of high 90s with humidity, we were DONE with the weather.  In the end, we pushed through and had another fun 4th of July filled with lots of traditions.

This year, Punky and Buddy participated in the kiddie parade.  Grandma Trudi has been asking for the last three years if Punky was going to be in the parade, and this year we finally said YES. 

I decided on their costumes a month ago.  Punky's favorite princess is Snow White, so I thought it'd be easy to just buy a new dress-up costume for her (we needed another one for when friends come to play anyway).  And in order to go with Punky's costume, Buddy would dress as a dwarf.  It was an easy DIY costume.  I bought an over-sized shirt at Goodwill and he wore a pair of Punky's old leggings and her old boots.  I made a belt and hat out of felt and bought some faux fur for the beard.  We even taught Buddy to say "Hi-Ho".  The only problem was that I did NOT think of the weather when I dressed my one year old boy in long sleeves, boots and a furry beard.

I am so glad we decided to participate in the kiddie parade this year.  Despite the heat, both Punky and Buddy did SO good.  Punky waved just like a princess for the entire parade.  She probably walked for half of the route and went in and out of the wagon when she needed to rest.  You could tell she was loving the attention.  And since we were in such a small town, people were shouting her name on each block.  She really thought everyone was there to watch her!  Buddy did not fuss and kept his beard on the entire time.  Daddy told him they were "looking for Dinosaurs", so I think that had something to do with it.  I was so proud of them.  They did a great job!  Next year, we'll try a more seasonally appropriate costume.

We quickly changed clothes before the big parade began.

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa were Grand Marshals of the parade

Punky picked up tons of candy and put it right in her bucket.  Buddy preferred to eat his candy right away and quickly learned how to open each piece on his own.  Punky liked the marching band and the princesses.  Buddy was excited to see the horses, but was disappointed when there were no dinosaurs.

After the parade, we walked to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house for our annual 4th of July picnic.  This is my favorite meal of the entire year.  I love it more than Thanksgiving dinner and Christmas dinner.  More than Chipotle?  I don't know about that.  But I love the taco salad, the pasta salad, the fresh fruit and the barbecues.  Delicious.  This year, though, I was just too hot to eat too much.  I managed to have two helpings of taco salad and pasta salad, but I stuck with only one serving of fruit and one barbecue.  I'll have to redeem myself next year.

We all took long naps that day after being in the heat all morning long.  This was a good thing since we planned to keep the kids up for the fireworks that night.   

After visiting Uncle Randy and Auntie Traci to meet their new puppy, we put our jammies and bug spray on and went to watch Grandpa Scott and the other firemen set off fireworks.

 
Punky loved the fireworks.  After the first big one, Punky's jaw dropped and the look on her face was priceless.  She shouted out the colors of each firework and declared all of them as her favorite.  Buddy, on the other hand, was a little nervous.  He didn't cry, but he buried his head in my shoulder for half of the show.  Maybe next year, Buddy.