4th of July

This year's 4th of July was a weekend-long celebration. Tate had been looking forward to it for about a year. Seriously. Any time we drove by the spot on 1709 where we watched fireworks in 2009, he would ask when we could see fireworks again. He even remembered that Mimi brought him graham crackers.

So when it was time for the 4th this year, he was pretty excited. This was our first year to participate in the neighborhood 4th of July parade. We live in a really small neighborhood (10 streets max), but it was seriously the cutest thing to see. The local fire department sent a "biiiiiiiiiiiig fire truck" (Tate's description) to lead the parade and the local police department sent a "real police car" to serve as the caboose. In between were all of the neighborhood kids (and parents and dogs) on their bikes, trikes, skateboards, etc., parading through the streets.

Tate was beyond excited to ride his Big Wheel (patriotically decked out... thank you very much) along with all of the big kids. He caused some nerves on my part as he was determined to ride directly behind the fire truck. Thankfully, we all made it safely to the grand finale, which was a tour of the firetruck and a classic burger and hot dog cookout in the middle of the back cul-de-sac. Good times!

And later that night, we got in some swimming and a yummy steak dinner at Mimi & Grandpa's house. Here is Will sporting his "Born in 2010" attire.

And on the 4th, we headed out to the lakehouse that Wade's parents rented for the summer. It was a super-fun day at the lake. Wade got a run on the wake board, I got in some good skiing (even after an almost 2-year break), and Tate had the time of his life on the tube. Will was happily held and cuddled by an assortment of family and friends inside. It was such a fun, busy day that I barely have any pictures.

The evening was capped off by a delicious filet dinner and three different firework shows to watch from the backyard deck while playing with the cousins and glow sticks. Amazingly, Tate stayed up until 11:30 that night (a new record). I don't think he could've asked for a better weekend, and he's already asking when it will be the 4th of July again!