4th of July

We had a great time spending the holiday with my family at the lake. Thursday my parents took the kids to the lake so Mark and I could have a belated anniversary dinner. We had a great time and so did the kids.

We met up with them on Friday around noon and headed to the Angola parade since my brother was in it with several other state troopers. This is how my kids feel about the sirens of the firetrucks...


The measure of a great parade for the kids is how much candy they leave with. They had a great time collecting billions of tootsie rolls (why is that always the candy of choice? cheap and easy to throw?), suckers, fruit snacks, frisbies, and even an ice cream sandwich from zestos! Millie loved waving a the characters she saw-not Elmo and Big Bird, but a giant hand and a frog on top of a car...


My Grandparents came and brought KFC chicken with them. Here the kids are enjoying a chicken leg-thank goodness they can eat outside!


We took a family picture while my Grandparents were still there. It's hard to believe most everyone is looking at the camera. We stopped briefly-I think my kids still have their swimsuit bottoms on.



Late in the afternoon on Saturday we hit the water (rough water as there are always a ton of boats on the 4th) and the kids went tubing.

Later that evening it was time for sparklers (or sparkwers as Millie calls them).

My Mom bought some large sparklers that changed colors. After seeing my brother light them-all at the same time- only two of the kids would take them. Guess holding a large flame in their hand didn't seem appealing...?


The night ended with a great fireworks display. We headed out on the boat at about 9:30 with plenty of snacks and such and found a spot to drop anchor. Watching fireworks on the lake is amazing. They reflect off the water and everyone honks their boat horn for the great ones. The kids loved it and we were really close to the launch spot. Mark taped some of it, so I thought I'd post a short segment.