Fourth of July

We had a fun 4th of July yesterday. The day started with a little parade in our area that was only a few blocks from our house. It was fun for the kids, mostly because they got almost as much candy as they would on Halloween. These are some of the highlights:

Walking to the parade

Seeing KJ! He is now running for mayor of Sacramento. Unfortunately, the camera was turned off when I tried to take a picture of him waving at us. So, all I got was his back. It's him--I promise. Joe and I wanted to yell, "We always picked you on NBA Jam!" but alas, we didn't. :) Click here if you have no idea who this is and actually care to know.

Enjoying candy and waving.
The library had this cute float entitled, "Curious George for President".

This band was fun to listen to while the man with the umbrella did a little jig. He was nice enough to pose for me.

We love parades!

This one was taken at home later. Natalie loved the necklaces she got but did NOT want me to take a picture. The sound byte to go along with this picture is her yelling "No!" Isn't she cute when she's mad?

That night, we went with my brother and his family to watch fireworks on a local high school football field. We had a good view and the kids had fun running around and staying up late. These pictures are all blurry due to the lack of light but I think they look kind of cool.

Lighting sparklers and looking like they've been caught.

Holding their glow sticks

I like this picture of our newest niece Lily.
Playing with sparklers!

It was a fun, tiring night. It was worth it, though, to snuggle up with the girls and watch them in awe of the fireworks while trying to explain the purpose of the holiday with Elizabeth tuning me out :). Hope everyone had a Happy Fourth of July! I'm so thankful to be an American and to have the freedoms that I do because of the sacrifices of so many.