whobody kept right on celebrating the 4th of July?

As I mentioned in my last post, the 4th is a big holiday for us.  Along with the Guttenberg celebration that we attend, we also have the festivities in Garnavillo!  First and foremost is the "Teddy Bear Parade" which is held the night before the 4th.  The kids dress festive for the 4th and have decorated strollers and wagons and parade around the park while following a golf cart. Sounds normal, I know. It is actually a lot of fun. The kids feel pretty special doing it...and this was the first year that I trusted Keaton to push the stroller by himself, therefore I didn't have to actually walk in the 'parade'. 

Of course, I forgot my camera...but luckily my good friend Mindy was able to catch a pic of the kids on her phone!  The kids LOVE the teddy bear parade because they get to jump in the bouncy house, ride a firetruck, and play at the park with their friends!

 On the actual 4th of July there is the Garnavillo Parade. My. favorite. thing. (well, I love the fireworks too) Anyway, the parade is huge and very enjoyable for the kids. We got SO MUCH CANDY we were able to fill our treat jar, fill the candy drawer at Grandpa's room in the care center, and take a 1/2 grocery sack full to our local hair salon! Yikes. Below is a picture of the kids and most of their good friends (who are consequently, our good friends' kids.....I wonder how long that will last...)  It is not ever easy to get a group picture with these guys. 

 Below, Keaton and Lola are ready for the parade to begin!

 Everyone coming back with their handfuls of candy...it was ridiculous (in a good way).

 Of course, Lola had to put on her ear muffs while the fire trucks went by.

 ....and if Nash wasn't picking up candy, he was in this pose....the "I'm so excited I don't know what to do with myself" pose. This may have very well been the best day of Nash's life.

After the parade we ate lunch in the park. Keaton must have gotten too much heat, because he asked to go home and take a nap (and later got a little sick, poor guy).  So, Mom and the boys went home to nap. Well, actually, Mom had a little party prep to do while the boys were napping. 

BUT Daddy and Lola stayed at the park and Lola got 3rd place in the tractor pull (who-hoo!) and had the time of her life in the park. (But we won't tell Keaton that...he was pretty broken hearted to miss out on all of the fun...not to mention the party we had that night.) 

As always, that evening, we had our annual 4th of July party to watch the Garny Fireworks. Back in the day it used to be a great night of adult conversation, snacks and drinks.

It has turned into a free for all of bubbles, chalk, bikes, trikes, pedal tractors, sparklers, m&m bars, smores desserts (yum), trail mix, lemonade, and sparklers. 

I'm pretty sure that we had over 20 kids there that night...at least there were that many at the end of the night...not sure how many we started with. :) 

Because Keaton wasn't feeling well, the wonderful Grandma Piano saved the day and took him to her place during the party, and then brought him down to watch the fireworks from our yard away from the crowd.  He was happy with that...and woke up the next day feeling great!  I am so lucky to have a great Mom to make Keaton's 4th special too. I think it is safe to say, we had an excellent holiday weekend!