Let Freedom Ring...with jumpers, sparklers, a parade...and a few burnt fingers

We had a great 4th of July, following some traditions from my childhood.  The Blooming Prairie parade is amazingly entertaining for a small town festival.  They have lots of cool stuff, topped off with the shriners dragon that shoots cold smoke all over the crowd.  The girls were slightly creeped out by it this year and then it blew smoke on all of us.  It ended up being funny, but Jorey had her ears covered and eyes closed on Dad's lap.  She hates loud noises and lacks bravery where strange, creepy dragons are concerned.  Due to this loud noise disdain, she watched the entire first half of the parade, with all the fire trucks and ambulances, with her ears covered. 

The girls wore these dorky headbands that I got in the dollar section of Target...but, only for a moment and to amuse me.  As soon as I got the pictures, they were off.  Oh, well. 

Dad did get a nice shot of himself in the headbands, while using the Ariel umbrella to shield his delicate skin from the non-existent sun.  He's so sensitive.

Kory's running for state rep again, so he came to shake Macy's hand.  He's the closest thing to a celebrity, so she was tickled pink that he came over to shake her hand.  Uncle Jeffy gave us enough tootsie rolls to last us a year...and, we got a ton of other candy, too.  It rained a little bit, so we bailed on the parade a little early, but we saw the important stuff.  We got to see Lon & Brooke Thiele.  Lonno's running for Sheriff.  He had star shaped stickers that the girls thought were pretty darn awesome!

After the parade, we went over to Kork, Mitz, Norah, and Brennan's house to jump in the jumper and light off some sparklers and some of our own fireworks.  It was all fabulous until we had Lane and Macy suffering burns from the sparkler ends they just couldn't resist touching.  So, after some trauma and a trip to Walgreen's, we had our burn ointment and an ice pack to save the day.  We watched the big fireworks and then went home with two of the sleepiest ladies in the land.  Macy and Jorey slept until 9:30 this morning!  It was awesome, so Mom and Dad also slept in.  I can't remember the last time I wanted to get up before the girls were in our room.