Oh, how we love the 4th of July!
It's hard to beat holiday festivities that consist of watching an amazing show of fireworks that light up the night sky, gathering up tons and tons of candy at the parade, watching float after float pass you by in the early morning sun, eating popsicles to beat the summer heat, but most of all, spending time with family and friends. This year was definitely no exception to total fun and excitement.
Lucky for us, Gunnison's celebration begins the night of the 3rd. The celebration here consists of dinner, auction, and concert, followed by fireworks. This year, we skipped out on the stuff at the park and hung out at home. We barbecued hamburgers at our house with Rod, JoAnn, Dillon, Lyman, Marci, JD, Brianne, Kallie, Ryker, Rylan, and Kaylor. This was fun to sit out, visit and enjoy the nice evening breeze before we watched the fireworks. As the dark sky settled in, all of us jumped into Rod's Toyota truck to go closer to the park to view the fireworks. Yes, all 16 of in his truck! The firework show this year was amazing, probably the best yet. It seemed to never stop and just when you thought it was the grand finale, they would start again for a long show that lit the night sky. It made for a great way to start the holiday!
Everyone was up early and ready to go for all the festivities. Jeremy was smart and went and saved us a section on the parade route early Thursday morning so we could watch the parade and be out of the sun. The parade starts at 9, so we always leave a little after 8 to head to our seats. The kids always line up front and the adults always set back to enjoy this parade. It is amazing to see the amount of people that line the streets of Gunnison for this parade.
This year, McKenna decided to be in the parade instead of on the sidelines. She was asked by her best friend, McKaylan Edwards to ride on the Christensen Arms float with her. Not only was it a bonus to ride with her bestie, but she was riding on the float for Jeremy's work. They threw hats and shirts, the best part was shooting their water guns.
The amount of candy that is thrown at this parade is unreal. It gets so bad that even the kids get tired of picking it all up. I know Trey brought home at least five pounds of candy, the amount he gathered up in his bag was unreal. The little girls didn't bring home so much. Ally only wanted to pick up the candy that she liked and Lottie needed a little encouragement to pick up candy without me following her out there to get it!
After the parade, everyone always walks back to Grandpa and Grandma's house. This year was a little out of the ordinary because we are usually barbecuing a hamburger and getting ready to continue on with the festivities. But this year, Darcy and his family invited us up to their small family reunion to hang out with them for the day. So instead of lunch, JoAnn had muffins, fruit, and cupcakes to tie us all over until lunch.
McKenna did stop by before heading to the park to hang with all her friends. She stayed busy hanging out all day long. While we went to Darcy's, she stayed and did the park thing, walked to a friends house and played baseball, and then as the evening drew, she, McKaylan, Kennedy Hall, and Belle drove to Salina to the Rodeo. Kinda sad to see her grow up, days like today she just wanted to hang with friends.
Lottie with her kitten. This little stray cat just showed up at our house one afternoon and ever since, Lottie wants to pack that thing everywhere.
Grandma Loraine, JoAnn, Lyman, Marci, Allyson, Lottie, and I all drove up together to the Johnson Cabin up I-70 to hang out with Darcy and Julie's family. It was fun for my kids to hang out with all their cousins. There was plenty to do up there, Trey, Ryker, JD, and Brianne drove to the lake not too far away and went fishing. Unfortunately, they didn't have any luck in catching fish. The little kids just had a good time playing and hanging out with each other. We enjoyed a nice lunch and us adults were able to hang out and visit while the kids just went and did stuff around the cabin.
Izzy, Rylan, Allyson, Lottie, Bryler
I went with Rylan, Ally, and Lottie on a hike behind the cabin. They found small hill and took off running to see who could get to the top. Rylan was up to the top in a flash. My girls were a little hesitant in climbing after Rylan spotted a lizard, but with a little convincing, they did it!
Trey was amazed at this big dog. It was huge and sure gentle.
We got back after a few hours and because McKenna was with her friends and Trey stayed with Ryker, Jeremy and I took the girls for ice cream and spent some time at home out of the heat. Jeremy worked on the yard while we were gone, so he was glad for a break as well.
That night, we were invited to Lyman and Marci's house for a barbecue. It was fun, we could see Salina's firework show from his backyard. Plus afterwards, we enjoyed more fireworks in his front yard with all that everyone else brought to let off that night.
Like I have said before, we all do love this time of year. We love celebrating the RED, WHITE, and BLUE! We are so lucky to live so close to family and friends that make this holiday so fun to celebrate.
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