happy 4th

We had such a wonderful day today celebrating the 4th of July and the good old USA! Ava kept us laughing all day saying "Happy New Year" by mistake!! This morning we went to my parents neighborhood and participated in the 4th of July parade. The girls rode their scooters and Jay and my dad walked with them. Sadly I have a knee filled with fluid again, so mom and I watched. After the parade they had ice cream for everyone and the girls got to put sprinkles on theirs. This was a huge treat since they don't ever get sprinkles. They got seconds on them and even thirds....on the sprinkles, not the ice cream!!! We had lunch at home and spent the afternoon at home as a family. We just had new neighbors move in beside us and we got to play with them today too....they are awesome! For dinner we hit the pool and had Dominoes pizza poolside. It was a delicious dinner for sure and the weather felt great tonight. After some swimming and watching Jay and Ava go down the slide a few times we went home to get ready for the fireworks. This is the first year we have gone as a family to see fireworks because of the girls age and bedtime, but tonight we let them stay up a little bit later. We went to the golf course near our home and laid out a blanket and watched the sky light up. I was so proud of the girls!!! It was very loud and yes they held their ears the whole time, but they were brave enough to stay. My dad still jokes with me about every year going to the same golf course when I was growing up to watch them and every year he would have to take me home as soon as they started. I had a feeling we would have to do the same since the girls are not that fond of loud noises. They surprised me and we stayed the whole time. The fireworks were absolutely beautiful. We had popcorn and drinks while we waited for them to start and had fun taking pictures of them with the "fireworks" setting on my camera. It was one of the best July 4th's we have had as a family! I can't wait to do it all again next year!