4th of July Fun

Dad and Auntie Kara enjoy the slide, too!

 We took it easy this 4th of July. We decided to stay close to home and have a fire in the neighborhood and then just go to the Eagan Carnival instead of driving all the way to Blooming Prairie and Owatonna as we have in years past. The Eagan carnival was fun, but hot and expensive, but we did get to go on a few rides and it was pretty fun. Then, we went to Auntie Amy's pool after that. How refreshing that was.

Grady and Dad @ the pool

Sisters having fun, together on the Dragon Rollercoaster

Jorey's working on being brave - getting way better.

Macy's lovin' the water.

Hunter enjoys the water with Mom.

Dad won you another stuffed animal, throwing balls SO hard.

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.

Happy 4th of July & a Private Dancer? No...

Well, we made it down to the Blooming Prairie parade again this year. This time, we spectated rather than walk with Kork in the parade. We figured he had enough walkers and that we would be on for marching in the election years...because Macy loves to yell "Vote For Kory!" and she would not have done that this year...guess she could have said, "Thanks for voting for Kory", but that loses something.

Macy, Jorey, and cousins Olivia and Owen got all sorts of candy and trinkets...even cheese! They thought it was pretty cool when the big shriner's dragon came and puffed a big puff of smoke at them and Mom. Dad was right on the curb with them to make sure nothing happened...even when the crazy redneck lady tried to cross the parade while the go-carts were moving at about 30 mph. After nearly causing a pile-up, we were able to rest easy while everyone shook their heads at her. :)

We enjoyed (well, everyone but Jorey) fireworks at the Kath household. They were great. Jorey hated every minute, but she thought she might like them next year. She closed her eyes and buried her head in my neck until they were done and then perked up and said, "Are they all done?!"

In addition to our 4th festivities, we planted flowers and had some other good times this past week. One item to note is that Macy and I often have some dance parties... I use the term 'dance' loosely, considering that my sister once labeled me "Flail-A-Puss" and my loving husband once said, "Good God, are you white!". Anyways, you get the picture. We flail.
The other night, I put some music on while I was working and I didn't know what to do with the DANCE that came out of my not-quite-4-year-old's little body!
Click here to see her boogie down!