The 4th of July fell on a Monday this year, so we had a fun-filled 3-day weekend!! We kicked it off on Saturday morning by visiting our neighborhood parade. Of course, we had to caravan up there in the back of the pickup truck like true Americans (the girls never pass up a chance to ride in the back of their Grandaddy's truck.....it's a really big deal, apparently).
Waiting for the parade to start:
Here comes the golf carts.....
....then the fire trucks....
....then, the old cars....
...then, the home-made floats....
...then, some idiot joined the parade.
All of the "paraders" throw candy out for the kids!!
It's like Halloween in July!!
We headed back home for just a bit....
....to cool off and get a bite to eat....
....then, we headed back out to the country club yard to watch the skydiving show!!!
We ran into Ms. Andy - Ella's first piano teacher (she loves her so!!)
Waiting for the skydivers:
Here come the first two!!
The final jumper broke a world record by jumping with the largest flag in history (over 720 ft!!) So cool!!
We had to get a picture with the record-breaker!!
Finally, it was time to head to the boat to get ready for the fireworks!!
But first, a little evening boat ride with my mama.....isn't she lovely????
All the boats lining up for the big show....such a neat sight!!
Here they come!!! Beautiful as always!!
We came home to have our own little sparkler party (we never miss a chance to sparkle!!!) :) :)
The next day, we had all intentions of attending our sunrise service on the beach, BUT, we all slept until 10:00 (sooooooo unheard of in this household - it was kinda glorious!!) Instead, we headed over to Grandmama's to relax and float around all day:
For the first time in FOREVER, Grandmama actually jumped off the diving board!!!
And, once she got going, she couldn't stop!!
We enjoyed our day of silliness:
That evening, we had planned to come back down to the pool for a little "night swimming," but as soon as we got down there, it started raining:
Catching raindrops:
Pretty soon, it started MONSOONING!!! Note the adults hiding under the towels:
If you look closely, you can see the CrAzY raindrops pounding us!! The kids loved every minute!! Us?? Not so much!! :)
The following day (Monday, the actual 4th), we just had a lazy day on the boat. With the exception of my phone for Pandora purposes (because it's impossible to boat without Otis Redding), it was a "no electronics day" (including my camera - I'm highly aware that my camera is an addiction of mine). I was, however, able to snap one photo with my phone. Doesn't this just scream "Merica!"?????
We hope everyone had an amazing 4th to celebrate FREEDOM and the ones you love!!!
Cheers to Independence!!!
