Happy Fourth of July!

We had a fantastic Fourth of July.  Mom and Dad had been talking up the holiday for weeks.  I'm really into my United States puzzle right now, and Hazel is always very excited about birthdays.  So when Dad told us that the Fourth of July was the birthday for the entire United States, we were pretty excited!

We started of the day by making sure everyone was dressed in red, white, and blue.  Even Dad got into the spirit.  After a delicious summer fruit breakfast, we joined in a neighborhood parade.  Turner and Hazel rode in the wagon, while Mom, Dad, and I took turns pulling the wagon.  It was a little hot outside, but we didn't complain because we were so excited.

Once we got to the start of the parade, we saw a firetruck, police car, and tons and tons of other kids, many of them on bikes, wagons, scooters, and all kinds of other vehicles.  Before the parade could start, a garbage truck showed up too!  I guess someone forgot to tell the garbage men about the parade.  All of the kids were just as excited to see the garbage truck as the fire truck and police car.  Once the garbage truck went by, it was time to start the parade.

We followed the firetruck and police car about half a mile to a nearby park.  On the way there, we ran into my friend Vishnu and his parents.  I was happy to see Vishnu.  Vishnu and I stopped to look at the police car.  The policeman asked us if we wanted to ride in the back of his car.  I looked in, but decided I didn't want to risk being taken to jail.  Then Vishnu climbed into the front of his car and got to sound his siren and horn.  It was neat, but scared Hazel a little bit.  After that we moved on to the firetruck.  Hazel and I liked looking at the firetruck, but decided it was a little too crazy to go in.

We only stayed at the park briefly before deciding it was too hot.  Vishnu's parents gave Mom a ride back to our house, and she drove the car back to pick us up and take us home.  We all napped pretty well.

After nap time was when the fireworks started - literally!  We went over to our friends' Luke and Noble's house for dinner, dessert, play, and fireworks.  On the way there, Dad took Hazel, Turner, and I to buy some fireworks while Mom finished getting all of the food ready.  Dad picked out sparklers, confetti poppers, and even something called a "Flying Pedro"

We met Mom at the party and had fun playing in their giant backyard --Turner tried crawling the whole way across -- while we waited for the sun to go down.  We ate a healthy dinner and some of Mom's wonderful banana bread and cake decorated with blueberries and strawberries so it looked like an American flag.

Once it started getting dark, Dad let Hazel and me (and the rest of the kids there) play with the sparklers.  All of the kids really liked them, especially Hazel.  She couldn't get enough!  Luke and Noble's dad, Mr. Phil, also had some fireworks.  He let Hazel shoot a roman candle (with a lot of help of course).  Dad and Mr. Phil were pretty surprised at how into fireworks Hazel was.

When it got really dark, all of the parents and kids sat down at one end of the yard while Dad and Mr. Phil shot off the big fireworks.  I said, "The fireworks shook up all the clouds!"  After each firework, all the kids laughed and screamed, "Do it again Mr Phil!"

We wound up staying up very late.  Mom and Dad said they paid for it the next day when all of us were a little grumpy, but they agreed it was totally worth it. It was such a fun Fourth of July!  We can't wait for next year.