Happy Birthday America!

Per usual, we celebrated the 4th of July a little early. For some reason our neighborhood always does it's big celebration a day early. The festivities started with a Firecracker 5K run. Kami always inspires me with the stories of her races, so I had to try it out. I was lucky enough to take 2nd in my age group. But, what that probably means is that there weren't very many people in my age group who ran the race. But I was proud and had a lot of fun. 8K in August, here I come!




Next we moved on to the annual neighborhood potluck BBQ. They had the biggest bouncy toy I have ever seen in my life. The Loveridges joined us for the party, and Halle and Braxton had a blast until it started to deflate and trap kids under all the numerous toys. Luckily everyone was ok.


We then went and staked out our spot for the fireworks. Sara had bought some sparklers, and we had to do some serious coaxing but finally the kids decided to give them a try. Josh loved them, but he kept tryng to grab the flame. The fireworks show was great, and this is the first year that Halle didn't cry! I said it was a day of miracles for Halle--she ate a hamburger at the BBQ (a first) she walked all the way to the fireworks without complaining (BIG DEAL) and then didn't cry when we got there! Josh was clinging to Rusty, but he was in awe of all the colors.







Then, the next day we headed to Boulder to do some hiking near the Flatirons. Getting Halle to hike is quite a chore, but once we got up into the trees and wildflowers, she had a good time.






Last it was off to the fountains on Pearl Street to cool down after a blazing hot day. All the kids had great fun. Josh was staring down the hole of one of the fountains when it squirted him square in the face and knocked him flat on his bum. Poor little thing was scared to death. Everyone was exhaused by this point, so we had a quick dinner at Pei Wei's and then it was early bedtime for all.