4th of July in Bressi

The 4th of July in our neighborhood is a blast!  We have it all....a parade, BBQs, pool time, and fireworks!  All the main components that make you feel like you are truly celebrating the 4th.  I was extremely excited for the parade in the neighborhood that I purchased the decorations for the kids several weeks before the 4th. I remember last year finding out about the parade last minute and having to pick through all the left overs at Michaels.  We headed over to the Rossitto's house to decorate their wagon for the girls to ride it.  The girls helped out by putting stars in the wagon where they were sitting instead of on the wagon.  The parents took over at that point while the girls ran around and Madden decided to eat the blue glittery styrofoam stars...yes he was really trying to get a taste of what the 4th was all about.  With all the decorating done we headed across the neighborhood to the home of the family that was hosting the parade.

When walking over to the parade I think the Dads started to realize it wasn't going to be easy pulling the wagon throughout the neighborhood.  Once we showed up if felt like the whole neighborhood was there.  There were tons of kids of all ages on anything and everything that had wheels.  They had a line of golf carts and even a truck pulling a boat to lead the parade.  Tons of breakfast food was out for everyone to enjoy and drinks for both kids and parents.  We had the kids run around and play a bit.  Skylar immediately was begging for a festive donut before the parade started.

After doing a tribute to all military, saying the pledge of allegiance, and a 4th of July quiz for prizes the parade was finally off.  Music was pumping, kids were cheering and the sun was shining.  Thank goodness for the Dad's because the parade route definitely wasn't easy for people on bikes or pushing kids.  It was a lot of up hill and they were champs pulling the girls in the wagon.  The parade started off with such promise but once we hit that first hill it really started slowing people down and it looked like we were losing some of the crowd.  By the time we turned the corner for our street Madden was past out in his push car and some how we were left in the distance as I think several people didn't want to walk up another hill.  Being told that the best part of the parade was still to come we pushed forward and were told to meet everyone at the local Stater Bros. store.  When we made it there, not one person from the parade had arrived yet and we figured that the run through Stater Bros wasn't going to happen.  After waiting 15 minutes the only people to show up for the grand finale were the three groups in golf carts and the convertible car full of moms.  The Stater Bros dash happened, but we dropped out about 1/4 of the way through the grocery store.  Didn't seem like the customers were too happy to see a group of kids and parents running up and down the aisles.  Next year they need to work more on the parade route, less hills and less distance. Either way, it was still a ton of fun.  The kids enjoyed themselves and nothing beats a parade on the 4th of July.

Next we headed to the pool to cool off after parade.  We wanted to get to the pool before nap time and before it would get too packed.  The kids swam and ate lunch up until nap time.  We BBQ our traditional turkey burgers and I put together a fruit pizza for our dessert.  With the kids getting anxious for fireworks we headed to the grassy area where we can watch three different sets of fireworks.  Jake came prepared with glow sticks for the kids and they had a blast playing with the other kids while waiting for the show to start.  Once the fireworks started I'm not too sure how much our kids watched.  Skylar spent most of the time running around with her friend Maddie and Madden was so scared of the fireworks (which were like 5 miles away) crying and wanting to sit in the stroller.  Once it was after 9:00 and I could tell Madden was getting no enjoyment out of the fireworks I took him home and shortly after Jake and Skylar followed.  We really had a great 4th of July and I feel so blessed that we were able to do so much and have so much fun just in our little community.

Love my two little firecrackers