Saturday, July 05, 2008

Happy Birthday, America!



I think their tie-dye shirts turned out so CUTE!!! Lots of you commented and emailed me asking for tie-dye instructions. It is incredibly simple IF you buy one of these kits from Michael's or Hobby Lobby. The kit is around $10 and has 3 colors (we only used two from the primary kit for our shirts). The hardest part is rubber-banding your shirt/bandana/bag/hat. The kit includes detailed instructions! It really is super simple...just a bit messy.
The above photo cracks me up because Abbey has two lollipops crammed in her mouth. The highlight of the parade (for my kids) is catching all the candy. This is the guy I'm voting for for US Congress. Not only is he the best candidate, he's also the dad of a blog friend. When I saw this truck in the parade, I told my non-blogging friend beside me that I knew his daughter from our blogs (which, by the way, she found hysterical). While she was laughing at me, I recognized my friend's mom walking alongside the truck and shaking hands, etc. Being the bold person I am, I walked up to her and said, "Hi, I'm Meredith...I'm a friend of Moriah." Her mom was SO sweet. She said, "Oh, Meredith!" and gave me a huge hug. Totally made my day!
After the parade, we loaded up the van and walked around the street fair with our friends. The girls got their faces painted...cute. We didn't last long at the street fair because the sun was very intense. Before leaving though, I ran into a fellow blogger. Renee recognized the kids in their tie-dye shirts as we walked past her family, and ran and tapped me on the shoulder. When I turned around she said, "Life at 7000 feet, right?" I was laughing SO hard. I've never had an experience quite like that before! It was fun to meet her though, and her children are CUTE!

Our parade has elephants and camels and fireblowers and jesters--all from the nearby Renaissance Festival. It was really hot yesterday and I felt sorry for the animals and people in costume.



We decided not to go to a fireworks show after all. We were all exhausted from the day's activities...and the sun! I love the sun, but it sure does zap my energy. We walked down to the end of our street where several of our neighbors were gathered and were able to see two different fireworks displays. The best part? No traffic, no crowds, and we were home two minutes after the show ended!



John and the kids set up our tent in the backyard yesterday afternoon so they could spend the night out there. They loved it, and it was a perfect way to end a very fun day!!! Jack slept in there with them, and I'm pretty sure he loved it too!


We couldn't have asked for a better day! I hope you had a fun 4th of July too!

22 comments:

His Girl said...

looks like a GRAND time! And the shirts looked fantastic!

I can't imagine getting 'recognized' from my blog... I think I'd pass out or something! haha.

glad you had a great time- we like watching the fireworks from our street too!

Angie @ Flibbertigibberish said...

WOW! It sounds like you had the best day ever! I'm seriously considering coming down there for the parade next year - that looks amazing! Those shirts (and hats) turned out perfectly. And camping in the backyard last night? Great idea!

I think next year for the 4th I'll just pretend I'm you and copy everything you did. :)

(I'm serious.)

Moriah @ Please Pass the Salt said...

I'm still giggling a little over you meeting my mom. It sounds like you guys had a FUN 4th! And the shirts/hats are really too cute.

elaine@bloginmyeye said...

Hey, and I thought I lived smack dab in the middle of middle America. That's a lot of good clean fun y'all had there.

Stephanie Kay said...

Fun shirts!! Looks like a great day.

Mrs.Naz@BecomingMe said...

How wonderful! I love the tie dye!!!!!

Tami said...

What a great day you guys had. I love the shirts.

Betsy said...

Ok-ya'll are officially the tie-die kings (and queens!). Everyone looks so cute in all the red, white, and blue!

My kids used to love camping out in the backyard!! It looks like it gets cold there at night still! Everyone is bundled up.

What a fun July 4th!

Becca~CapturingSimpleJoys said...

What a fun day! Love the shirts too.
I would get such a kick out of being recognized from my blog but that is highly unlikely. It's amazing the many contacts in the blog world you've made!

Our 4th was spent with a sick daughter so not anywhere near as fun as yours.

Leah Belle said...

love the tie dye shirts...gonna have to do that with my kiddos.

glad you had a great favorite holiday...can't wait to see pics from your hike.

Gretchen said...

So darling. Your kids are just amazing, Mer. And, you! After that exhausting day, you and John look so dang cute in that picture when you were (I think) watching fireworks.

Thanks for sharing your day with us. My 1/2 sister was volunteering at the Ren Fest. I wonder if she was at or watching the parade with her kids.

Take care, and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Jackie said...

What a perfect day! Those shirts turned out awesome. And how funny that you were recognized from your blog. :)

I love that last picture of your kids in the tent. You are doing such a fantastic job of creating great memories for them.

Marc and Charity said...

Yes, those shirts are precious! Well done kids! ;)

Rae said...

What a fun day!!! And busy!! And exhausting...but in a good way!!!

Love the US Congress candidate story. If you have not been able to figure out yet...DK and I are WAY into politics. Republican all the way! :)

I can't believe there were elephants in the parade. I have never been to such a neat parade before. Thans for sharing!!

Amber said...

Looks like a fun day. Love the shirts!

So glad you guys had a good one!

Faith said...

Love how the shirts turned out!! So cute! And, that was quite a parade! Glad you guys had such a wonderful day!

Gina said...

Love love love love love the tye dye. And how funny to be recognised on the street by your blog!

Kelly said...

LOVE the tie dye! Sounds like such a fun day - your kids are just beaming - they must have had a blast!
Is it cold at night there? You are all wearing jackets? I can't imagine that in July. :-)
You have reached big time blogging when people start recognizing you in public! :-)

Rebecca said...

I love that parade! This year was the first year we've not gone in a long time. And, the fourth wasn't the same with out it. Thanks for the pictures - it was a nice taste of home! :)

It looks like you all had a fabulous day!

Adventures of Laura said...

LOVE the shirts - they turned out so, so cute! Thanks for sharing your fun day with us!

Meredith said...

Oh my goodness! What a fun day. I love the kids matching tie dye shirts. And the camping in the backyard is a perfect ending!

Jenn said...

What an amazing day you all had. I loved reading about it. Before the summer is over I am going to buy one of those kits to make tees with my boys. Your kids shirts look great.

How fun that you saw a blogging friends mom. Most of in town friends do not even know I blog. A couple of friends know, but I do not talk about because they do not get it.

I think it is so neat that y'all need jackets in the evenings. I loved that about my time at Glorieta, NM. Looking forward to the cool evenings when we visit CO in a couple of weeks.