The One with the 4th of July 2011

(Note - this will definitely be the only post on my "home" page today because there are 56 pictures. I got a little camera happy yesterday...)

Yesterday was definitely one of my top four favorite Fourth of Julys! It consisted of a parade in the morning, a BBQ in the afternoon, and watching fireworks at night. Here's how it all went down:

We started off the morning by letting Fox take his morning nap while I tied up some loose work ends and Chris got in some studying. Once Fox woke up we went to see the South Pasadena Festival of Balloons parade! My expectations were immensely exceeded!

I passed this lovely blanket on the way to our lookout spot (scouted out and saved by the Bybees - thank you very much!).

The opening ceremonies were held at the South Pasadena Library which was only a couple blocks away from our spot so we headed over there.

Everyone was prepping for the parade. South Pasadena is about 3 square miles and there were hundreds of people in the parade. Perhaps that is why it wasn't so crowded - everyone was in the parade!

If you listened closely you could here "pop! pop! pop!" from all the balloons popping whether from the heat (summer is officially here!) or from being put on the grass, or squeezed intentionally, etc.

We had a few minutes to spare before 10:30am so we walked around and admired the floats and old cars.

Balloons! Balloons! Everywhere! Everywhere!

The festivities began with saluting the flag and singing the national anthem.

Then we meandered back to our spot along Mission Street. Our family of three photos are few and far between - usually it's me and Fox or Chris and Fox but rarely the three of us together, so I'm making an effort to get more! Here we are on July 4th, 2011. (Thanks V for taking this one with our camera!)

And thanks Emily for taking this one with your ultra nice camera!

Our gang of spectators.

Fox getting fresh with Madison.

The parade begins!

Fox was entranced.

This float spat out confetti! Fun! (And what a mess to clean up :)

The following are some of the floats and people we saw.

That is one giant soccer ball!

Zoomed in on the bus.

A lot of the kids in the parade gave us candy. Best. Parade. Ever! We seriously came home with a bag full! And we didn't even have to say, "Trick or treat!"

Fox's balloon went bye bye!

The "Stratford Wives" (the wives who live on Stratford Street - we're guessing it's a play on the Stepford Wives). They be craaaaazy!

I convinced Chris to run under this float. Thanks for humoring me babe :)

Horsies!

With stars painted on their bums!

It was a very hot day, even in the shade, so we welcomed the water balloons thrown at us with open arms.

Fox was such a good boy the entire time, he hardly made a peep and just enjoyed the ambiance. I love him so!

Right after the parade we went to Arby's and got some lunch and brought it over to Daisy and Andy's for a pool party/BBQ. We dunked Fox's feet in a pool for the very first time. Verdict? He neither cried nor smiled. He's Switzerland. Neutral. The verdict is there is no verdict.

We'll try again in Hawaii on Friday :)

Good friends, good food, good times!

Fox tried his first strawberry at the BBQ! I think he loved feeling it on his teeth (yes - TEETH, not TOOTH, his second bottom tooth broke through a couple days ago!) more than the taste.

After the BBQ we came home and took much needed naps. I whipped up some brownies and then we were off to watch fireworks. Our friends have a top floor apartment on a hill in South Pasadena. They have some MAJOR views! This is from the front.

And this is the view from the back. Cities and urban sprawl (mingled with a few palm trees!) as far as the eye can see!

Before the fireworks we enjoyed each other's company

and ate some burgers and tasty treats.

V's festive cupcakes!

Superfox!

The kiddos all lined up #1

The kiddos all lined up #2

The real Olson twins! Fox is lucky to have so many little boys to grow up and play with.

Once it got dark we went out onto the roof to enjoy the magic.

Without the flash.

With the flash.

The view was amazing. We prolly saw 40 different firework shows strewn across the sky.

My camera doesn't take very good night pictures, so I opted for the "artistic" effect instead :)

Mr. Fox usually goes to sleep at 7pm. We kept him up 'til 9:30 and he was such a good sport about it! He conked out in the car on the way home.

What a great Independence Day! The one will be hard to beat!