4th of July fun

Last year Brad and I spent a wonderful 4th of July with a few close friends here in Brainerd. We grilled out at a friend's house, walked to the parade, headed back to our individual homes, and then met again for fireworks later that evening. I was very, very pregnant with Caleb, but despite the steamy weather, I remember having a fabulous day.

This year, I really wanted to do that same sort of thing. Our friends who hosted the get-together last year had recently moved but were visiting over the Fourth. So I decide to also plan Caleb's one year birthday party for that day as well. (Since we were going to be on vacation on his actual birthday...it's a good thing he's young enough not to care!)

So our day began with a parade in Crosby, a nearby town.


If you've ever been to Brainerd's parade, you know that over 100,000 other people are there as well. No joke. Our little Brainerd/Baxter area swells to unbelievable numbers over the Fourth. We had heard that Crosby's parade was shorter, more kid-friendly, and way fewer people. And they were right! Sammy had a great time with her friends gathering candy, and Caleb enjoyed it as well and was pretty tuckered out by the time we got home around lunchtime.


Then the rest of our friends joined us for supper around 6:00 or so. And, since our house is pretty small (especially for the 10 adults and 12 children), we utilized our deck. (For some reason our 14 by 24 foot deck didn't quite seem as big...)

We had a great time getting to know the two recent additions to our friends' families. Baby E.J. was just a couple of weeks old.


And Baby Alistair was a little over 3 months old.


After we ate, we headed inside to open presents and eat some cake and ice cream. My friend Melanie sent Caleb the book "Llama Llama, Mad at Mama" and that turned out to be a big hit for all the kids.


And who could resist a face like this! I added blue food coloring to the frosting, and Caleb had a WONDERFUL time eating it!


Then most of us headed to the fireworks (which Sammy LOVED and Caleb HATED!) and then finally headed to bed.

It was such a fun day that I just didn't want it to end. God has truly blessed us in more ways than I can count. He has provided all we need from food to shelter to friends to family to amazing fireworks. Our God is great indeed!