4th of July

We decided to skip the parade again this year on the 4th of July. I know it's a big pain to arrange going to the parade, but it really makes it feel like the 4th of July. This year felt very un-holiday ish. 

We started out the day going up to Bridal Veil Falls. We had a good time there and Jackson slept in his stroller the whole time which was so nice!

The kids had so much fun climbing around on the rocks and stepping in the freezing cold water. I know this water is melted snow, so naturally it's going to be very cold, but I walked in it and oh my gosh, talk about PAIN! You couldn't stand in that for more than a few seconds without your feet going numb.

After that we went to Ross and Karen's for a BBQ and to just play. We went home in the afternoon for a rest and came back to do fireworks but the weather was kind of windy so we ended up skipping the fireworks and just went home to bed. The kids did go out on the trampoline and watch some of the neighbor's fireworks though.

We decided to do balloons the next day, on Friday. This is my all time favorite 4th of July tradition, but it has been getting busier and busier each year and we were in a pretty rough patch with Jackson this year at the beginning of July so we weren't sure if we would go. We ended up going, but not early. When we got there the balloons were up in the sky, but we did get a great parking spot and still had the pancake breakfast. A little bit different than our typical experience, but it was still nice.

We walked across the street where they were doing free balloon rides for kids but ended up that we were too late and they had stopped accepting new people. I doubt we would have waited in that long line anyway. I found out this year that they blow up the balloons at night and light them up and I think I want to try that out next year.