Happy Birthday America!

On Friday the 4th of July we went to the 62nd annual 4th of July parade in Kailua.  It was so fun to see the kids get excited over bands playing, horses trotting down the street and "princess" riding on the backs of the convertibles.

Drew became a professional beggar, or should I say pick pocketer, by the end of the parade.  When people would pass out candy Drew didn't wait for them to hand it to her.  She would take them directly from the bag or bucket they were carrying them in.  They handed out good stuff too.  Flags, popsicles, tattoos, pencils, bread, candy, water bottles, and even shirts.

After the parade we came home and got ready

for our bbq/pool party.  The Jorgensen's, Wynes',

and Jones' - Aaron, who had to work came over for the festivities.  The kids, Kurt and I, cooled off in the pool.  Then we had DELICIOUS hamburgers Kurt grilled up and SCRUMPTOUS grilled peaches with ice cream for dessert.

We were able to see the fireworks from our house so we didn't have to drive to the beach and fight the crowds.

Then we set off some fireworks of our own... if you call smoke bombs,

snakes,

Poppers,

and sparklers, fireworks.

We did have a good finale with a chain of fireworks wrapping up the tree.  It seemed like it lasted a couple min. and ended with a bang.

Then as we were sitting around talking about different challenges this cinnamon challenge was put to the test by Kurt.  Supposedly you can't eat a Tablespoon of cinnamon; It's too dry.  That supposedly became irrelevant.  I love the clouds of cinnamon!  I can still smell it now.

We were so glad our friends were able to drive an hour to hang out with us.  We were able to see the clothes Stefani made her girls, show the Wynes' how we do it in America (though it's no Stampede and they seem to know a lot more about our own country then we do), and thanks to Shanae get to watch Kurt's challenge over and over again!

We hope everyone had a fun and safe fourth of July!