happy independence day!

I started to title this post "4th of July" but changed my mind because all of our Independence Day activites actually took place on the 3rd of July. I guess the town where we live figured that not all that many people would have the day off work on the 5th, so they planned all of the festivities for the day before. Fine by me, I guess.




We started our day with our local, family-friendly parade. It really is a cute parade, very patriotic and informative. Informative because there are floats from all sorts of organizations that I never knew existed, most of them associated with the Republican party. Anyway, they pass out flags, necklaces and candy for the kids and the kids, of course, love it. This year we went with some of our old Baylor friends and their two little girls. Everything is more fun when friends come along.

After the parade, we went home for lunch and naps in anticipation of a late evening. Then, we headed out with our neighbors to Jeff's parents' boat at the lake. We had planned to cook chicken fajitas, let the kids fish and then take a boat ride and swim for a bit before the fireworks show. Unforuntately for us, the remains of Hurricane Alex had other plans. About an hour after we got to the lake and just as we were sitting down to eat, the sky opened up and it poured for several hours. The boat was still in the slip at the marina but it was raining so hard that all 15 of us sought shelter down in the cabin of the boat. As the rain eased up, more and more of us ventured upstairs to the dock and went on with our afternoon, minus the boat ride and the swimming.




What happened next can only be described as divine intervention as the rain stopped literally just as Jeff was driving the boat out of the slip on our way to watch the fireworks. The sky cleared, the rain stopped and the fireworks were spectacular! Everyone, except our little neighbor who thought the fireworks sounded a little too much like thunder, loved it. And no one could remember a 4th of July celebration where we were huddled under blankets instead of sweating like pigs. It was a day to remember!