Old Fashioned 4th of July

We rode the train over and over again, but still didn't get enough!

Kordale had a turn at trying to be a vampire, but the teeth were just to big.

The girls ran their hardest trying to run the foot races and got a reward of getting their faces painted.

Kordale's reward for enduring the day was a nice cold ice cream cone! YUM!!

We stood out in the rain to watch the parade go by and it was almost like halloween with all the candy they collected.

Morgan showed off her patriotism with flags and was the hit of the parade. Everyone continually said, "look how cute that little girl is!"

Kordale got tired of watching the cars and floats go by and finally closed his eyes just in time for us to get in the train and be part of the parade.

We even had an 'Edward, Bella and Alice' sighting. Afterall, this is Forks!

The marching band was in the form of an orchestra and they weren't marching but hitching a ride on a trailer (string instruments were in the back of the truck undercover, since it was raining)

Chad got to be the train engineer for the parade and snaked us down highway 101 while we threw candy out the back.

Happy 4th of July!!

4th of July

After being away from the good 'ole USA for a few years on July 4th we were really looking forward to some hometown fun. However, the day started out rather cool and VERY rainy! There are no parades or park entertainment here in Stillwater, so we missed those activities. Instead we found a berry patch to go pick fresh blackberries from and then had friends over for an evening of BBQ and fireworks.
The kids loved getting out and picking berries, they each had a container to fill. Grandpa and I ate more then we put in the containers but eventually we were full!
Jordan made us a cake to add to our potluck of food. We had to tease her though about her backwards 4, she blamed it on her backwards dad...LOL!
Chad had gone for 3 years with no fireworks, so he was sure to buy plenty this year. Everyone had a great time with the show he was able to put on with all the variety. Even Lexi joined in the fun once we gave her the ear muffs (she didn't care for the loud noise).
All the while Kordale hung out in his swing sleeping in his usual awkward position.

How does an American spend the 4th of July in another country?

Lucky for us some of the locals knew it was an American holiday and the fireworks were a necessity. A booth was set up across from campus with a small array of goods. We bought a few boxes of sparklers, bottle rockets, fire crackers and crackle balls. I'm not sure on the cost and I don't think I want to know because a small box of sparklers that you can get at any fireworks stand in the US for $1 was 5ec here. Chad's comment was simply "Man they are outrageous in their prices"
We didn't get to do any bbq's simply because we just weren't that organized :( So we ate left overs from the fridge and then set out at dark to hopefully find the illusive fireworks everyone was saying would happen at this beach or that place. At 9 PM we caught up with the Allred's and ended up going to their house and watching the fireworks from NY live via the wonderful technology of satellite TV! YES, pathetic I know! But hey; the music was good, there were no bugs crawling on my legs or mosquitoes biting at me and best of all it was air conditioned :)
As we left for home we did luck out and see a few little fireworks shoot off over the ocean, but we missed the 5 minute display one of the beach bars put on a half hour earlier then they said it would happen. (which is really strange because usually things happen a half hour AFTER they are supposed to start) We came home to light our little stash we had bought and sing Happy Birthday to our native land. Due to the late hour I didn't let Chad have all his childhood fun and get every dog barking by letting off all the firecrackers. So tonight he finished them off and I'm sure all the neighbors are thinking "What are those CRAZY american's up to now!"
I'm sure if the West Indies cricket team had won their game we could have gotten our neighbors out to celebrate with us! Better luck on Sunday West Indies

Happy Birthday America!!!

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Good Luck to the West Indies Cricket team!
It's a national holiday in St. Kitts today also in honor of the game being played.