I love to celebrate my country. Independence Day and Christmas are my 2 favorite holidays, with Halloween a close second. There is something about bbq-ing, watching parades and fireworks that just makes me happy. We also love to be around family. This year we didn't have the last option, so we weren't able to celebrate "Utah-style." Instead, we did everything "Cali-style." Fortunately for us, there isn't much of a difference. It goes something like this:Going to the Singing Flag, a cool, patriotic celebration put on by a church here in Concord. They have 3 shows, so we went to the Monday night one, so that Matt could attend basketball tuesday night, just so that he could throw out his back. Nice, we should have gone to the SF on tuesday night, I guess. It wasn't as crowded as I remembered, so Reagan was able to find spot on the kiddie swings and we went to those air-blowy things that are obstacle courses and slides. She watched for quite a while as the kids slid down the slide. She looked so alarmed every time someone came down. Reagan tasted cotton candy for the first time. She spit it out, then realized it was sugar, and didn't spit it out again after that.
Just look at Matt's excitement!! He loves the Singing Flag and loves even more getting his picture taken!!!
The production as a whole was really cool. They sing all the patriotic songs that just make you want to clap and cheer. You can tell they practice really hard for this. My favorite song is when they do "40 hour work week" and pay tribute to all the hard workers in America who make this country possible. They didn't give a shout-out to accountants, though. Even though three of the four guys in our group were.
This Iwo-Jima thing was awesome. And we also discovered a "fireworks" setting on our camera. Check it out--I am pretty much a professional photog now.
The fireworks show was cool, up close and personal. And short. That was nice...sometimes those things can drag on forever and your like "okay, pretty green one...pretty red one." I think if you have seen one, you've seen most of them. Reagan was staring at the sky in a trance. Matt was holding her and she was pinching his arm hairs really hard. I think they startled her a bit.
Our ward is awesome. They make great pancakes, as we found out on the morning of the 4th, when we attended the ward breakfast. The heat was almost unbearable and made me realize I could never live in Arizona. All was made better when the fire truck showed up, though. Reagan was unimpressed. She was still thinking of those yummy pancakes.
I wanted that big guy in the background to jump in the photo. He was huge! If my house were on fire, I would totally request that he come fight it. The fire wouldn't have a chance.
I made a few of the 12 year olds mad when I entered the bike parade on my rollerblades and pushing Reagan in the stroller. They yelled at me that it was "unfair" as I passed by them. Adelaide was next in line to push Reagan in the stroller. Only a few more years, Addie.
Nope, Reagan did not pee or poop on Matt here. He is just holding her and Laura managed to capture the moment. We were letting off snaps on the Burt's porch. One of my 4th of July wishes was fulfilled--we bbq'ed and partied with some friends in the afternoon.
I just like this shot. Mostly because I look tan and nothing could be further from the truth. But I also love Reagan's expression. Please ignore the fact that she is almost flashing the camera!!
Yea--the kids love hanging out together. Reagan could spend all day trying to keep up with these two. Reagan was just glad she had an excuse to clap her hands. Jackson was thinking...dang...my last day as an only child. Adelaide, the chillest person ever, was just happy and enjoying the company.
So that pretty much sums up our celebration of our love for this country. We went home, exhausted and opted not to attend another fireworks show. Which ended up being the right choice, because we got our own personal show outside the bedroom window. The neighbors decided to let off tons of illegal ones that honestly rivaled the Singing Flag fireworks show. That was awesome.