Independence Day

This year on the fourth of July we went to the neighbor's house for breakfast, and for the kids to decorate their bikes and scooters. Kara didn't want to put too much on hers. 

But Kiersten was happy to go all out with her decor. 

All the kids lined up behind the police car, ambulance, and fire truck for the parade. You can kind of see my kids off to the left in the back. They didn't have the greatest start. Kara was facing backward, Evie wasn't even on her scooter, and Kiersten needed a good shove in order to get over a crack that was in front of her. 

Ben pretty much pulled Evie the whole way on her scooter. I took over for a bit when Kara crashed her bike into a parked car, and Ben went to help her. 

The kids all got to go in the ambulance and fire truck to look around. Every time this fire fighter would tell them something about the truck, Evie would tell him something she made up about it. 

Kara is the only one who wore her bathing suit under her clothes, so she stayed at the pool with her friends while the rest of us went home to change. She was pretty proud to be left there, and I'm still surprised at myself that I let her. But there were tons of adults there that I know, so I guess it was okay.

kids getting ready for the rubber ducky grab.

Poor Evie didn't get one, so the lady threw one in for her after most of the other kids had gotten out. 

Kara took a few pictures, but this was the only one that turned out. Sorry for the look on my face :( I didn't really want to be posing for a picture at that moment. 

The camera was dead at the fireworks. We went to bluebird park, and it was pretty fun. The girls played in a bounce house, and we had some treats before the show started. It was a good show, (though not Idaho Falls or Provo quality) and it was cute to hear the things the girls said. Kiersten said, "Ooh! I wish I could fly up there", which Kara answered with, "good luck not catching on fire". hahaha. My little dreamer and my little realist. They sure balance each other out. And Evie was cute just saying whatever each firework reminded her of. There were several watermelons, spiders, and princesses.

On Friday we went to the water park with some friends, but didn't get any pictures because the camera wasn't charged still. We all had tons of fun there. Kara especially enjoyed getting to pal around with a 12 year old girl, and not have to stay with her little sisters. She also ran into her best friend there who was at summer camp that day. So they had fun together. 
Later that night, we drove to a friend's house across from the St. Louis arch so we could watch the fireworks. I was particularly excited because Brett Michaels was doing the concert that night. The kids and Ben ended up with lots of mosquito bites from sitting in the grass, but I was lucky to be waiting in line for popcorn forever, and didn't spend much time on the blankets. 

Not a very good shot, but there's Brett :)
I got to hear all of the good songs he does, and a few I didn't care about as much. 

the fireworks were okay, but not as good or as long as the bluebird park ones. Where I was standing in the popcorn line, was actually a perfect spot to see the fireworks smack in the middle of the arch, and to hear the music really loud. So though I was annoyed at the time to not be back with my kids, it wasn't so bad. 
We had a really fun 4th, and hopefully you all did as well :)