Small Town America

We have had an action packed week and really enjoyed getting to celebrate the 4th here in Wheaton, where the 4th of July is as big a deal as Christmas! My dad and Loretta came in for a visit on Friday and were here to see all the action. We have also had their company all week, which has been a treat for all of us. We started off the holiday weekend by pulling out Alec's tepee tent that he got for Christmas - it's too big for indoors, but it's a great outdoor tent and we thought he would love having it outside for the parade on Sunday. We continued the weekend with a firework display in Wheaton on Saturday night. Alec loved the fireworks and told us that the purple ones were his favorites. He sat still and watched them in awe for almost 30 minutes, he wasn't freaked out by the loud noises at all, in fact, I think he liked it! On Sunday morning we walked down 2 blocks to the Wheaton history center that was hosting a waffle breakfast before heading home for the parade, which ran right down our street. It is actually a really big deal in Wheaton, so much so that people started putting out their chairs and reserving spots on Friday night, so we were sure to reserve a spot in our own yard. The parade was great and a ton of fun to have right in front of the house. Alec loved the fire engines, the floats with people playing music, and most of all - all the candy they handed out. After a nap and a trip to the neighbors bbq to test out their backyard water slide, we headed over to Glen Ellyn for more fireworks, and they were awesome. They light them over a lake, but it is fairly small and they let people sit all around them. It was the closest to fireworks any of us had ever been and it was insane - we could literally watch them light them off in front of us and sitting directly underneath fireworks gives you a whole new appreciation for how awesome fireworks are. All of us loved them and the show made for a prefect end to a wonderful 4th of July. Since then we have been keeping busy with lots of shopping, eating and playing with Papa Randy and Retta before we head out to CO on Friday. Here are some pics from the weekend, and sorry for the ridiculously long and detailed post.

Tent set-up

First firework show

I love this one

A pre-parade Klondike bar that Alec got from another family who watched from our yard

Our parade spot

Papa Randy and Retta brought Alec a trash truck and he is 100% obsessed. He had it out front for the parade and it's such a hit that other kids came over to play with it.

This was our neighbors yard - they have a flag for every grand kid

The festive tent

Even Brody got to attend

Bringing out some toys

The fire engines, ambulances and police cars all came together with their horns blaring!

With some friends he met in the yard

Waiting for our second firework show - Alec was starting to get cranky, seeing how he had been up until 10:30 the night before and all, but the minute the show started he calmed right down.

Some post 4th photos - trash with Papa

and hand print hamburgers with Retta...we hope you all had as nice a 4th as we did!