July 4th memories -BEWARE long post!

For the past 4 or 5 years now, we've traveled to Mt. Pleasant for the 4th of July. We love their small town festivities they have on this day. We always come up with tons of stuff: bikes, chairs, coolers, luggage, etc... It's a crazy trip!

On the morning of July 4th, the City shoots off these large cannons in about 3 or 4 areas of the town at exactly 6:00 am. And they can be heard for a few miles. The kids always look forward to it because it means it's the beginning of yet another fun day for them. At 7:00 am there's a country-style breakfast at the city park that includes pancakes, eggs and bacon. They charge just a little too much so we never eat there, but it's good to know it's there.

At about 10:00 am we head over to my brother Bruce's home and decorate the kid's bikes so they can participate in the children's parade. They love to ride down State street waving their hands at everyone. Pretty funny, if you ask me!

My oldest nephew, Nate pulling Jaynee and her cousin Trevon along. Jaynee loved waving to the surrounding city royalties. She's such a princess girl! Kerry took too many pictures of them this year. Maybe he thought they looked good this time around. In the past he's taken pictures of them because they're overweight, country girls stuffed into half-pretty-looking dresses. I know, not very nice, but he gets a kick out of them every year.


Here's Kerry wishing that sno-cone was a beer instead.
The divine Miz Heather-bees and little Jocelyn watching the parade The kids and their candy getting pumped up for the monster trucks coming by.
My youngest brother Craig and his cute girlfriend, Brandi checking out the parade too.
After the parade there is a carnival at the park along with a mountain man festival. It's boring everytime, but for some reason the kids always want to go. And it's not worth taking any pictures, so I never do!

In the evening we have our family BBQ. It's always at my brother Bruce's house because he's got a grassy, shady backyard. But this year my brother wasn't home because of his job. He works for the Forest Service as a firefighter and was called out earlier that week to fight the fires in California. He was really disappointed that he couldn't be with us and take on his role as the official BBQ master like he does every year. So this time, my Dad stepped in to fill his position. He even agreed to wear my brother's favorite grilling apron.
We had a yummy BBQ with lots of good food... Heather's baked beans, April's pasta salad, Leslie's relish tray and soda, Nancy's chips and buns which she never complained once about having to bring, Dad's jell-o dessert cups and my didn't-work-hard-at-all-for brownies I bought from the store. They really were delicious! Thanks to all who helped contribute.
We even heard a small, unknown brass trio after the BBQ. This is Nate (sax), Kaylee (trumpet) and Zak (trumpet) playing some often heard July 4th songs. It was fun to hear how well these 3 could play. They did a great job! Zak (on the right) is only 2 weeks older than Kaylee. I can't believe how much he's grown!

My brother's wife, April was a "Super Mom" this holiday without him around. She handled a lot of prep work before we all arrived, made sure that the kids were supplied with decor for their bikes, cleaned, prepared food, etc... Her 4th of July t-shirt had the "Super Mom" logo on the front of it and it fit her role perfectly. I'm just kickin' myself for not getting a picture of her in it.

After the BBQ, my brother Dan (the back side) decided to take the kids for a night swim just as the sun was going down. The pool wasn't heated, so they were freezing! Jaynee couldn't get herself out of there, she thought she would be even more cold than she already was. I finally had to pull her out.

As soon as it's dark, the City puts on their fireworks show at the park. Which just happens to be right across the street from my brother's house. So we always have the best seating. And my brothers always have their own personal fireworks to light off -which the kids love! The necklace that Kaylee is wearing was made by my Mom. She handmakes them and gave one to each of her grandkids this year. What a crafty grandma!
Just before the fireworks show, I discovered a fun setting on my camera called "night portrait". It slows down the shutter speed and takes these really cool blurred pictures of the fireworks. I had so much fun with this setting that I took too many firework pictures. I got some really cool ones though, but I'm going to spare you with all of them and just show you this one below.

We had a great day filled with lots of good, family memories. Lots of laughs, food, soda, swimming, bike riding, playing, talking and sitting around. One might ask........who invited all these tacky people???