4th of July Fun

Kate, Will & I made the trip back to W'burg for the 4th of July Celebration this year.  Unfortunately, Brett had another architecture exam to take that week, so he opted to stay home and study in a quiet house, which never happens.  It was 100 degrees outside that day.  I think Papa & Nana thought we may not come, but we toughed it out for the fun day!  Kate & Will couldn't wait to ride on Papa's cool dump truck in the parade.

We arrived late morning, so I brought the swimsuits so the kids could play in the sprinkler outside.  Kate loved throwing this little egg ball of Nana's.   Nana has had it forever, and it's one of those toys the kids always look for when they get to her house.  Unfortunately,  Kate chucked it so hard it broke open and the egg and yolk spilled out.  Thus the end of the egg ball at Nana's house. 

Will just continuously ran circles around the sprinkler, never fully throwing himself into the water unless we begged him to to keep him cool.

We dug through Nana's closets to find hats to wear in the parade.  Kate absolutely fell in love with the umbrella hat.



The rest of us ladies decided to be the cowgirls riding in the dump truck rather than on horses.

We boarded the truck just a few minutes before we had to take off in the parade so we wouldn't have to sit in the heat.

Cindy and her friend Gary were our rockstars.  We remembered to haul down the 800 strings of beads that we were going to throw to the crowd.  But we totally forgot the 3 huge buckets of candy!  With little time before it started, Gary & Cindy ran (Yes RAN in 100 degree heat) up the hill from the highschool to Mom's house to get the candy! 

Meanwhile,  we sat in the shade under our umbrellas and took more pictures!  The parade was a BLAST!  I never thought we would get rid of all 800 strings of beads, but we did.  Kate and Will loved throwing them to all the kids.  Little Will could barely see over the side rail of the truck, and many people couldn't see him.   Therefore,  many times he would just chuck a string as hard as he could and nail someone right in the face, never knowing what he was doing!  I had to chuckle a bit.

Afterward, we headed back to Nana & Papa's for an awesome BBQ.  The kids took a bath and had a little picnic in Nana's den before we loaded up and drove back to DSM.   We had an absolute BLAST this year.  I think another
Von Ahsen/Van Zee tradition has begun!