What a Wonderful Fourth!!

This was maybe my favorite fourth to date. It was a pretty low key, Mahncke Park packed day, and I had a wonderful time! I think the kids and hubby liked it to, but the whole lot of them are hard to judge. Actually, they are also considerably harder to please.

We started the morning with a red, white and blue, USA themed art project. We needed materials to adorn our "Parade Float" for the annual Mahncke Park Fourth of July Parade (MP40JP?).

Here is a finished masterpiece!

The back of Zahra's seat.

Here are some float shots:

No MP4oJP is complete without a reading of the Declaration of Independence. This came complete with only slight commentary on the state of our union today. ;)

We spent time with friends and petted dogs. I don't think Zayd's feet ever touched the ground. He stayed planted in his wagon or on my hip to get pet the neighbors' dogs. It seemed notable to me that he was not as social as the other little ones. He really wanted to see his friend Colt but only from the safety of his wagon. Luckily Lilah came by to wish us a happy fourth!

After the parade, Zayd and I raced home.

Then, we were off to a neighbors for a little pre-nap swim. It was just the four of us since we were "borrowing" the pool and it was lovely. We really have the best neighbors. One block and one door down...

Can you tell Zayd did a lot of crying at the pool? I think he is going to lose his mind when swim lessons start on the 22nd.

Then a quick lunch and nap before we started off in the other direction, also one block and one door, oddly enough. Our awesome friends had set up a waterslide right in their front yard and a kiddie pool for the younger ones. Most kids loved it.

My little man wouldn't go near it. He spent his time doing this:

Notice a trend? I did but decided not to worry about it quite yet. He has time to develop his social skills and if not, he can be a nerd. :) 

Here is Lilah again. :)

We ended the night with a little birthday tradition for our favorite M&Ms. I realize this photo makes it look like Lilah's birthday but I think Kristin just looks so lovely and I wanted this pic included. In fact, there were so many photos of Kristin where I thought she looked so gorgeous that I realized I must have a mom crush. Something about tediously icing a giant Mickey Mouse cake passed down from your childhood makes you extra special pretty in my eyes!

Look back at that above picture. Dad of the year is in the background.

It was so past Zayd's bedtime and I just let him eat his cake on the walk home. Oh my! What a mistake. Happy Fourth everyone!