Friends on the Fourth

This year for the 4th of July, we invited some friends to walk up to the Waxhaw parade with us.  We were quite a crew.

Once there, we found a few more friends and settled in for the parade.  My kids affectionately refer to this as the "candy parade" because they throw out tons of candy.  However this year they got very little candy, but plenty of coupons, beaded necklaces, stickers, election propaganda and even a few gift cards!  What ever happened to good old fashioned tootsie rolls and bubble gum?

After the parade, we walked back in the heat of the day for a cookout at our house.

The kids enjoyed their hot dogs and burgers, but maybe not as much as their snow cones. 

After long naps and dinner with our neighbors, we went back uptown for the fireworks.

Finally, back at home for the evening, we met up with our neighbors again for some sparklers and more (smaller) fireworks.

Our small display got as much attention as the main event.  Although Elijah much preferred a bite of daddy's snow cone:)