Fabulous 4th

Sam, a photo by Justin and Kelly Webb on Flickr.

I absolutely love the 4th of July, and I have always loved being in Sheboygan on this holiday...(even when we lived in Chicago). Here are a few things that made this 4th so great:
- being in the parade!! Caleb has wanted to be in a parade for the past few years....this year, his wish came true. We were in the "Magic School Bus" for Bookworm Gardens (where my mom is volunteer coordinator and I volunteer...and kids love visiting!!). We invited a few of our friends and had a great time riding/walking in the parade. I SOOO wish I had a picture of Caleb during the parade. He was seriously perfect....HUGE smile on his face the entire time, waving the American flag out the window, yelling at people he knows and shouting "whooo hooo Bookworm Gardens!!" He was SOOO into it!! Sam was more interested in the actual bus ride...he found the perfect spot in the back of the bus with his friend Flinn. :) And while Izzy had lots of playtime in the bus before the parade, she waved at people from the comfort of her own stroller...eating candy that we should have been throwing out to the parade watchers. :)
- hanging out with family. We spent lots of time over the holiday wknd with my parents and Mary & Dick, who were visiting from Nebraska. They came over for fireworks, a bonfire and s'mores one night...and we spent the afternoon and evening of the 4th with them. My dad made his famous ribs (I think Caleb ate 7) and after we filled our bellies, we headed to the lake for the big fireworks show! Perfect 4th of July!
- One of my personal favorite moments....listening to the Wisconsin marching band. They did a 5th quarter performance in Elkhart Lake that we went to. If you have ever been to a UW football game, you get it. If you went to school in Madison, you totally get it.
- Spending time with one of my best friends from high school. She and her kids were here from Houston...they spent all day Tuesday at our place. We set up the sprinkler and handed out popcicles to keep the kids happy, and we chatted away. Perfect.

And although it was a "short" week, I still managed to find a 2 day camp for the boys to attend in the mornings. They went to Maywood (environmental park) to do the real camp type stuff...hiking, songs, making art with nature, all that stuff. And this afternoon we had a fun family outing at the Sports Core beach...I had planned to take the kids there anyway for a picnic & swim, but we also managed to get a few others to join us...Justin, my mom, Calian & Brayden! Perfect way to spend a summer day.