OK...so these pictures have nothing to do with the 4th, but Tori finished her first puzzle all by herself (24 pieces) and she was quite excited (as you can tell by the kissing of the caterpillar). We celebrated with some delicious Popsicles.
This little number...Could Brooke be any cuter?! She loves to lay with phones, so this series is of her talking on Auntie Marie's phone. A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!
The Dinger 4th of July Celebration
The Parade
Well, what would the 4th of July be without family?! Auntie Marie (who is probably the most patriotic person I know) and Gwennis brought the 4th of July party to Boise! Our first 4th of July activities started on the 3rd (we like to elongate holiday celebrations in this family!). We (meaning Jason and I) are not so much big fans of parades, so Auntie Marie brought the parade to us. We put on some patriotic kids music and marched around our front room! Tori chose high heels and her cape as a costume and Brooke went with a poofy skirt. Please note the we did have a horse in our parade...his name is Loco and is a hobby horse that Gwen made for Tori for Christmas. I am still not sure if he is a toy or a weapon of mass destruction, but he proved useful in our parade! It was a fabulous parade!
Decorations
Later that night we decorated the house. sparkly stars on the window, strategically placed by two little munchkins. A large "Happy 4th of July" sign for the wall. Oh and the magnificent hand wreath crafted by Auntie Marie using all of our hands and different scrapbook papers! It turned out super cute!
The Costumes
On the actual 4th we all dressed up in our Red, White and Blue! We looked fabulous and festive.
The Breakfast
Our ward throws a breakfast every 4th of July and it is fabulous. The menu: made to order omelets, pancakes, hash-browns, sausage and juice! Delicious, although there were no pictures taken of the food, believe me when I say we stuffed ourselves. The kids ran around and played like little banshees. There were two jungle gyms, swings, hula hoops, a trampoline, a variety of balls and a porch swing. Kid heaven!
The BBQ
We had a BBQ (duh...isn't that a given on the 4th?)...the usual, but Auntie Marie made some delicious veggie kabobs! Mmmmm! Jason was our grill master. The other pictures are of the girls anxiously awaiting food and Gwen as the 2nd parade MC. (Yes...there were two 4th of July parades!)
The 1st Annual Dinger "Chalk It Up" Festival
Apparently Boise has a sidewalk chalk festival and since Brooke napped through the afternoon we decided to have our own chalk festival in our backyard instead of hauling downtown to see the art. It was fun! Gwen made Brookie, Dennis made a cruise ship, Jason made a Lego man, Brooke smeared a flower, I made Belle and Ariel for Tori, Marie made a flag and Jason made a ladybug.
The Cul-De-Sac of Fire
Poppy Things
Dressed in some serious 4th of July garb (princess meets rock star meets super hero?), we set out for our Cul-de-sac of fire! First the girls enjoyed 4 boxes of those poppy things (they scare me like popping balloons, but the girls enjoyed them). They learned the art of throwing them and stomping on them.
We all pitched in to get a box of fireworks for the kids to watch. Mind you that the sun does not set here until 10:30 so we opted for a lighter show in the shade at 8:30...there is no way Tori and Brooke would make it until that late! They enjoyed some patriotic suckers and sang along to patriotic music while we lit our Cul-De-Sac on fire! Please note their faces in the lower left corner! SO CUTE!
Our last firework of the night was appropriately called "THE BIG DINGER!" (it was $10 but had to be purchased)! It was a good firework to end with because it was long, bright and flashy! Our neighbors actually set the cul-de-sac on fire after it was dark. Our neighborhood was filled with illegal fireworks that boomed into the night. It was F-U-N!
We had a GREAT time! Thanks for coming up and bringing our celebration Dingers! We miss you!
