Tradition . . . .TRADITION!

There is one tradition that I try to get out of every year, but have been unable to evade. It is the tradition of my family sleeping out on the parade route for the 4th of July parade. So, every year on July 3rd, we pack up all our gear and go sit on the lawn all afternoon and evening. Then I leave Jeremy and some kids there to spend the night and I drive home with the youngest. Then the next morning I get up really early and drive back up there for the parade. This year was no different . . .so here are our pictures from the event.

Samantha is spending her time watching cars go by and trying to stay cool in the shade.
For dinner and entertainment, we took a drive to Burger King. Then we came back and ate while we watched more cars drive by.

This year we sat in front of some college apartments. A few of the college kids came and told us they would be making breakfast in the morning and we were welcome to join them. Then towards evening, one of the girls who lived in the complex came out to invite anyone who was interested into her apartment for a movie, popcorn, and brownies. She was really nice and all the kids jumped at the chance to do ANYTHING different. None of the adults wanted to go and watch a movie and I didn't think she would want to have all of our kids come and hang out in her apartment. Surprisingly, she didn't seem to mind and all the kids jumped up and followed her inside. They were watching Phantom of the Opera. Our 3 older kids and 3 of Mike and Ronda's kids just went and sprawled out across her living room floor.

I checked up on the kids a few times and they were having a great time. It was so nice of her to let them come in and join her little party!

The next day when the parade was about to start, I noticed that same girl sitting outside on the steps trying to see the parade route from behind us. I invited her and her friends to come up and sit on our blankets and watch the parade with us. All of my kids just gravitated to her, especially Nathan. He wouldn't sit anywhere except right by her side. It was really cute! She seemed to just soak it in. So, out of the tradition that I dread every year, the kids made a great friendship for the day. :) It turned out to be a fun memory for them!

Here is Nathan, Heather, and Alexandra waiting for the parade to start.

Samantha, Athena, Janelle, and Amber.

Here are the kids with the college girls. See how Nathan is just tucked so nice and tight between them? The girl in the striped shirt is the one who invited them in. She was so nice and cute with all the kids - and she is the one Nathan just attached himself to. Her name is Jaime.

One last picture after the parade, before we packed up and left.

This parade was like our last few parades. It did rain on us. Who would've thought on the 4th of July we would get rained on! Another fun thing - Nathan got to shoot the big gun that the men pull along at the end of the parade. They were looking for a little boy to come and pull the rope that fires the gun and Nathan ran up there. After he shot the gun we asked him what he thought of it and he just said, "It was really loud." Even funnier - he really ran up to the guys because he thought they were handing out candy!