Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July to you!  We had a great time celebrating America's birthday, and I hope you did too.  We are so proud and thankful to be Americans, so we love getting to celebrate and thank those who make this country great.  Liz and I took the girls to a parade in Marietta today.  It was pretty hot outside, but we had a fun time.  When I told Lily last night that we were going to a parade in the morning, she got so excited.  We talked about what kind of things we might see there (bands, floats, etc), and she couldn't wait.  I told Mia about the parade this morning over breakfast; her little face immediately lit up, and she said "We see Mickey and Minnie and Donald and Goofy!"  She was remembering the many parades we saw at Disney World back in November.  I explained that we wouldn't see them, but we would see lots of other fun things.  She looked a little confused and said "we go to Disney World?" so again I had to say, no, that wasn't where we were going, but it would be a lot of fun.  I could see the skepticism on her face.  After breakfast, we all got ready to head out.

The girls were very excited when Liz gave them each a flag.  The three of them had decorated our windows and kitchen area to get the girls excited about the 4th, so we borrowed these flags from those decorations.  They were ready to go!

 We scouted out a great spot to watch the parade.  The girls were able to sit up high and see the parade coming down the street.  There was very little shade around though, so we warmed up quickly.  Luckily, Liz thought to bring water and snacks to keep us all hydrated and happy!

 The three Hooks girls.

 Lily doing an impersonation of the Statue of Liberty.

 The parade is about to start.

 The Marietta chapter of The Lions Club came about 5 minutes before the rest of the parade handing out American flags to everyone watching.  The girls were thrilled to get more flags, and they have played with them all afternoon.  They also loved waving to the lion as he rode by.

 The flag bearers led the parade holding an American flag, Georgia flag and City of Marietta flag.  They were followed by a military band which we all enjoyed hearing.

 We all enjoyed seeing several of the old firetrucks come out.  Both girls were thrilled when a fireman walked over and gave them each high fives.  A big thank you to all of our public servants!  This old ladder truck is carrying a sign that says "September 11, 2001 - September 11, 2011.  We will never forget."

 This was the statue we sat by.  It depicts a woman holding on to an American flag and waiting on her loved ones to return home.  It is new since last July 4, so the Marietta Mayor, Chief of Police Department and the Chief of Fire Department all walked up and put flowers in front of it.  The parade also had many current soldiers and veterans marching.  It brought tears to my eyes as everyone applauded for them as they walked by.  So many give so much for our country that there truly isn't a way to say thank you.  As several Vietnam veterans walked by, Lily asked "Why is everyone clapping?"  I could only say "it's to say thank you for all they have done for us."  Thank you to all our military members. 

 Well, Mia, this is as close to Minnie Mouse as we can get right now.  A bunch of clowns came by at one point, and both girls were excited to see a Minnie Mouse puppet with one of them, especially when Minnie blew kisses to them.

There were many small town pageant queens of all ages riding in cars too.  It cracked me up because the girls would wave so big to them and say "There's a princess!"  As one of the girls passed by, her dress was sitting in just the right way to prompt Lily to say "There's a mermaid princess!" to which Mia replied "That's no Ariel Lil!"  Lily finally concluded that they weren't really princesses, but they were just pretend princesses with tiaras on.

We headed out once the parade was over.  Both girls were sweaty (it was really hot outside), hungry (it was lunchtime) and tired (they had both woken up just before 6).  So, we headed to Chick-fil-a to eat and cool down.  After lunch, we went home and the girls helped me make cupcakes.  Please keep in mind, I can follow a recipe very well and make some yummy food, but I thought I would take a chance on a variation and make patriotic cupcakes.  So I made the batter, divided it between the girls and Lily made red cupcakes while Mia made blue ones.  The food coloring wasn't quite right though so they leaned a little more towards bright blue and pink, but hey, we tried right?  After nap time, we frosted them with white frosting and then put cool firecracker picks in that Liz found.  They turned out pretty cute and they taste delicious even if the color is a little off!  Before trying them out though, Lily had the idea to sing Happy Birthday to America, so I grabbed the video camera and recorded that.  This is the link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3DMCWVpfBo&feature=youtu.be) if you want to watch them sing.

Pretty cute, right?

They have played with their parade flags all afternoon.  They have been marching all around the house making their own parades and waving them everywhere.  At one point, I put the Cedermont Kids DVD called "Songs of America" on, and they just marched in a circle around the rug, singing along to the songs and waving their flags.  At the end of each song, they would point the flag at the tv and say "Happy Birthday American!" (not America, but American).  I asked each of them before bed time if they had a good time celebrating America's birthday, and each gave me a resounding "Yes!"  Happy 4th of July!