4th of July Weekend

This year the 4th of July weekend was different for the Leslie family because we decided to actually stick around town and participate in some of the local festivities.

On Friday morning we went over to Seven Peaks water park. Leah enjoys being in the water and she also enjoys watching all the people. I love that we have our passes this year because we can go for an hour or so in the morning before it gets too hot and too crowded. We can leave when we want to and don't have to feel like we have to stay a long time to get our money's worth.

Saturday morning, Ross's cousin, Julie, invited us to join their family at the pancake breakfast at the hot air balloon festival. I've always been curious about the balloon festival, but never curious enough to get up that early to check it out. This gave us a good reason to go. 

By the time we got there, most of the balloons were already in the air, but we did get to see the Darth Vader balloon take off.

That evening we went over to watch the "Stadium of Fire" fire works show. We had never tried to watch them from somewhere outside the stadium, so we didn't really know what to expect. There were definitely a lot of people gathered to watch them where we were. Leah was so tired but so hyper because there was so much going on and so many people to see. We had a very hard time getting her to settle down and stay in our little area.

The family next to us was so nice. One of their little girls came over and offered to give Leah one of their glow stick necklaces. She loved playing with it. By the time the fireworks started, we was SO tired, but wouldn't sit still long enough to fall asleep (who does that sound like?). She wasn't as excited over them as I was hoping she would be (the fireworks are my favorite part of the holiday), but she wasn't bothered by them at all either. So that was nice. But needless to say, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep in the car on the way home.

Lots of people at church on Sunday thought Leah was so cute and patriotic in her blue and white striped dress that she got from her Grandma Leslie. (Of course people at church always thinks that Leah is so cute-I might be a little biased but I have a hard time disagreeing with them.)

Monday morning we went to the parade with the Millers. Thanks again to Julie and a few of the other cousins for saving us such great seats! We really enjoyed the parade. Overall, the weather was pretty pleasant. Leah seemed to enjoy all the excitement, the people and the horses in the parade. By the end, she was ready for a nap but of course was not about to fall asleep with so much going on.

 Of course, I had to get a picture of our favorite "float."

That evening we joined the Millers again along with Ross's mom and sister and her family for a great BBQ. There was so much food, we could have had twice as many people and still had plenty! After a few fireworks in front of the house, we loaded up and went back home so I could finish packing for girls camp the next day.

It went by so fast, it's hard to believe that the 4th of July has come and gone already. We had a lot of fun. I kind of wish I could have slowed down and enjoyed it more (I spent most of the weekend getting things ready for girls camp). But it was still fun to participate in so many of the activities and pause some to reflect on our freedoms and pay tribute to those who have and still do sacrifice so much to protect our liberty. Thank you to all our troops!