4th of July 2018

We had a fun 4th, as always. We enjoy the tradition in our neighborhood and community of a 3k fun run, pancake breakfast, parade and carnival. I left my phone at home, but thankfully Mel took some. She and Wes pushed Owen and Daniel in the fun run, ...or maybe Wes pushed while Mel took pictures?

After the fun run - did you guys survive?

Daniel, you are a funny character.

The little girls are proud of their medals!

Enjoying breakfast.

Pancakes, ham and eggs but none for me or Hyrum, we both ate fruit before we came.

(The peaches at Costco are perfect right now!) After breakfast, I walked home to drop of the little boys to get my phone so I could document the fun too. Melodie painted faces again this year as we waited for the parade.

A line of customers, ready for a free face painting.

The parade started at 10. They threw out better junk food this year - like not just taffy, but swedish fish and sour patch kids. Abi was on the front lines ready to grab goodies.

She scored a lot of treats and the girls all came home with a bag that could almost rival a toddler's trick or treating loot. Two of my favorite parts of the parade were a family that seriously put on a whole Greatest Showman performance - all the characters were there, even a big dark haired dad as the bearded lady, so funny. Another one was a neighbor who had the biggest pink flamingo pool floatie I've ever seen up on a trailer. Corey was impressed. I said Corey is just like him - that dad and Corey both make ice rinks! Corey said that Jon has much better execution. It was really fun.

The boys slept over at the church to set up and then watch guard the tv and food and stuff. Unlike last year, they stayed and ran the 3K. Ethan ran it on 2 hours of sleep and a tank engine full of Joritos, KitKats, and Airhead candy. He said it sucked and he doesn't know how anyone enjoys running. A neighbor always challenges the boys and says he'll pay $50 to whoever beats him. Ethan blamed his performance on lack of sleep and a poor breakfast, to which Jim replied "If only you'd had a bowl of Fruity Pebbles..." We all laughed at that - Jim knows Ethan well from the high adventure trip. Lol.

So Eth came home and crashed, Hyrum and Wes came home to play the new Xbox that Corey bought that they've been dying to play.

The little girls didn't express interest in going to the carnival, and I didn't remind them about it, cause I was happy to go home too - it was a hot July day. So they watched movies in the messy basement while I exercised.

Later that evening, Corey took kids to watch the fireworks - Ethan, Hyrum, Wes, Abi, Lily, Sophi, and Owen. I stayed home with Mel who was practicing, and Natalie and Daniel. Natalie took a really long nap after getting up early for the fun run. She ran almost the whole thing!

Except for one part where I gave her a piggy back ride for 20 seconds and the end, when Corey met us, and carried her on his shoulders the rest of the day. I'll update here after the fun run pics are posted online.

Natalie woke up around 8pm, and didn't notice that everyone else was gone or that she was missing out on a family activity. She's a cute little girl. I'll update later with pictures that Corey took at the fireworks.