Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July! We went to the Hillsboro Fourth of July Parade and had such a fun time! We found an open spot near a newly remodeled park. The boys had a fantastic time playing on this really cool playground as we were waiting for the parade to begin.







We saw a few of our friends in the parade so that was fun. During the boring stretches of the parade, Tyler kept trying to slip away to run back to the playground. I had to let him stand on my lap so he could see over all the tall people in front of us.



Tyler loved all the horses and the marching bands. Justin loved all the candy they threw into the crowd.



This was our favorite float!

After the parade was over, we went back to play at the playground for a while until the rain sent us back to our car. I think we found our new Fourth of July tradition.

We came home and the boys enjoyed an afternoon playing in the backyard and doing firework poppers while I weeded.



I planted a bunch of wild flowers in our backyard this year and as they are coming up they look a lot like weeds. Well, everyone keeps trying to pick them to help me out with my weed problem. But, they aren't weeds...they just haven't bloomed yet! So, I was the designated weeder since I knew what to pick and what to leave alone. Anyway, so much for the wild flowers.

Later, we had a barbecue with a family in our neighborhood, the Grewals. They have a son who is the same age as Justin and a daughter just younger than Tyler. We had such a fun time talking and the kids had fun playing in the backyard. After dinner, we planned to meet out front for fireworks. We ended up with quite the fireworks show on our street with five families joining in on the fun. We bought a bunch of fireworks this year and we let the boys pick out their favorites including monster trucks that drive down the street, tanks, moving turtles and artillery trucks. Justin has had it all planned since last Fourth of July and has been so excited to blow up the tanks and trucks after we lit them off.



He was so happy when they went up in flames after he had staked them on top of some fountain fireworks. Tyler kept walking down the sidewalk to our house holding an American flag. I would find him on the front porch saying, "I'm just taking a little break." Then once I had talked him into coming back to watch the fireworks for the 10th time, he would say, "O.K., but you be the marching drums and trumpet!" Then we would be our own little marching band making our way back to the party.



We had such a fun time. The kids had glow sticks and had fun playing night games after the fireworks were over. It was a great day for us and finally we felt like made some good "Oregon Fourth of July" memories. If we can't have family and Provo's Freedom Festival, we can still enjoy the holiday on our own...what a relief.