Shoot! I forgot about the 4th of July!!

In all of the excitement about our cruise, I failed to mark the fun 4th of July we had before we left for Mexico! It was one of those days where we actually had too many fun things to do and it was hard to pick which ones we would attend. We started off the day with a fun pancake breakfast at the church. It included a bike parade and Jonah rode his two wheeler for only the second time. As we were going down a slight hill, the bike started to gain some speed and Jonah started to panic a bit. I kept calling to him, "Step back on the pedals!" but he was too scared to hear me. Instead he bailed off the bike. That's right, he actually jumped off the bike and we all watched it go down the road without its rider. Not to mention, Jonah skinned up his knees pretty good, too. Oh, well. It makes for a good story and a good lesson, right?

Next, we went to a rockin' hot party at our friend the Schultz's. They sure know how to throw a party, that's for sure. There is nothing like barbeque and an inflatable water slide to make for Independence Day excitement. Here's Cole taking a little break with, what else? Candy!
Cole was a little bit wary of the water slide, but Jonah as adventurous as ever took to it like a duck to, well, water!!

And there was no way that Damon was going to let the kids have all of the fun. He borrowed some trunks and jumped right on there himself!

Later that evening we hooked up with Buddie and Boppo and went to the city's 4th of July parade. I would stand in the heat and tolerate way too many politician's floats to see the Highlanders play their bag pipes. I always get a little misty when they play "It's a Long Way to Tiperary."

After the parade we went back to Grandpa's house to have our own little fireworks celebration. Here's Boppo showing Jonah that you have to pull really hard on those little champagne poppers. Thanks to Boppo for teaching my 5 year old the finer nuances of explosives.

No matter how loud or how late, the Sutherlands are always up for a party!

Happy late 4th of July everyone!!