250th Birthday of the USA

We made it back from the Pacific Northwest in time for 4th of July weekend.

Friday the 3rd of July, I watched hot air balloons even driving to a nearby park to see them closer and to get juggling videos and pictures. 

Jet, Nichole, and I went to do a story trail at the new Delta Gateway Park. "How the Beaver Got His Tail" is one we read back in 2023.

Then we went to the library (libraries?) and picked up some Summer Reading prizes. 

Jet earned a trilobite fossil.

 

That day was Chocolate Wafer Day. Jr. Jr. told me, "We're having them after scripture study to remind us to never wafer in our faith."

Have I mentioned I love that kid?

The kids watched Pooh's Heffalump Movie to celebrate Drop a Rock Day and Eat Beans Day because rocks drop on the trap to catch the heffalump and Pooh ate jelly beans. 

 

Saturday, the 4th of July, was the 250th birthday of the USA and our celebration of it was kind of chill.

We were still recovering from vacation so there were some naps going on.

I did look at the hot air balloons from our front lawn first thing in the morning.

We played with bubbles and shadow puppets while waiting for a jet flyover. 

We watched jets with Jet like we did in 2020.

Then it was time for sidewalk chalk before going in and relaxing.

It was Play Outside Day. 

I did have a drink with a red, white, and blue straw.

For dinner we had hot dogs and salad with Caesar dressing because it was Caesar Salad Day.

For dessert we had red, white, and blue ice cream.

The funny thing is a different day we needed to get ice cream for Nichole's birthday and ice cream was on sale so one of the types of ice cream we got was red, white, and blue ice cream. It was so good.

On Independence Day we heard no fireworks, no sirens, and no dogs barking. This year there was a fireworks ban because of too many fires.

We were planning on more activities, but I'm okay that it was kind of laid back.

 

Sunday, the 5th of July, the kids and I went out for an evening drive and saw the giant flag flying in Grove Creek Canyon. They used a different flag this year. This year it was a Betsy Ross flag, which you can't really tell in the pictures Nichole took as I was driving. Oh well.

A Couple More March Holidays

Beware the Ides of March which we celebrated on March 15 with Caesar Salad.

On March 16, however, we celebrated Artichoke Hearts Day with alfredo pizza. Mmmmm. Sooo good. 

3rd and 4th of July 2023

Let's start catching up on July by talking about the 3rd and 4th of July since not much celebrating happened the first two days.

Balloon Fest happens for a few days around the 4th of July, so Monday, July 3rd, Nichole and I went for a drive to see the hot air balloons and to drive under some of them.

That evening we celebrated Eat Beans Day and Drop a Rock Day by having with our dinner jelly beans and chocolate rocks that we dropped onto our plates.

Tuesday, July 4th, Jr. Jr. and Jr. went to help set up flags in the neighborhood. Jr. Jr. and I ended up with a selfie that day like on Memorial Day and Flag Day this year. I think it might turn into a running theme. Selfies with the American Flag instead of pictures of the kids with them.

We ate Caesar salad because it was also Caesar Salad Day.

That night, some of us watched fireworks with neighbors and Jeremy made balloon animals for kids (and adults) who were out watching fireworks. It was a pleasant night.

Action Packed 4th of July Weekend

Joshua had Friday and Monday off of UVU Prep for the 4th of July weekend. That meant four days for Jr. to fit in as much family fun as possible. Jeremy had to work all weekend so it was mostly the kids and me but he was around on Sunday.

Friday, July 2. Balloon Fest was happening throughout the weekend. That's where a bunch of hot air balloons are together and they do different activities. It is part of the Freedom Festival in Provo. I got up early to sit outside to see if I could see the balloons from home. I couldn't see anything. I found out later the balloons didn't lift off the ground that day because of the weather. I did get a little wet while I was waiting. Oh, well.

Later that day, I took the kids for a picnic and Provo Story Trail at Rock Canyon Park. After the story, we continued walking around the park and Jr. asked to use the camera. He climbed a hill and brought this picture back to me.

"Crop Circles! Today is World UFO Day." 

"It kind of looks like a face which also goes along with the UFO thing."

We also looked at "mashed potato clouds" while we were there.

That night we drove by Balloon Glow as part of Balloon Fest. They had several hot air balloons on the ground and shined lights on them to go along with music. The kids and I decided that we'd get up and drive by the next morning to see the hot air balloons in the daylight.

 

Saturday, July 3. Surprise. Surprise. When we got out that morning, we could see hot air balloons from home. They were able to lift off! 

We drove anyway and were able to see them much closer. As we got closer to where they were launched, they were all over the place, some even over the road where we were driving. 

We drove to Carterville Park and everyone was able to get out and get a good view. We were even able to see some where they landed in nearby parking lots. That was a fun morning. I love hot air balloons.

 

 

Before we left, we found a little friend who decided to crawl to a place where it would get squished if we closed the door. I tell you, snails are faster than you think. Jr. nicely moved it so it would be okay. Good kid.

That evening to celebrate Eat Beans Day and Chocolate Wafer Day, we had burritos and chocolate wafer cookies.

Definitely click on this picture to see Jet and Lucky's faces.

Sunday, July 4. It was National Caesar Salad Day so we had chicken Caesar salad wraps with 4th of July type food- potato chips, potato salad.

Monday, July 5. The kids and I went to see the giant flag hanging over Grove Creek Canyon. We hadn't gone to see it since we lived in Pleasant Grove. I blogged about it in July of 2017. It's definitely become a bigger thing- not the flag itself, but the event with it flying. There were flags lining the trail up to a spot to get good pictures. There was lots of informational stuff in the parking lot. Yeah, it's become a bigger deal just in the last few years.

That evening, the kids and I went to pick up Jeremy from work and we had Family Home Evening lesson and treat in the van. Then we did our activity at home. As it was National Graham Cracker Day, our treat was graham crackers with frosting in the middle. Homemade frosting. I got the recipe from The Food Nanny. It is frosting they use on brownies but I think it works great on cake (or on graham crackers).

We were also able to see the giant flag from the freeway. Yeah. It's huge.

So that was Jr.'s action packed 4th of July weekend before he went back to UVU Prep to finish out the last couple weeks. I hope he enjoyed it.

Even though Tuesday, July 6, wasn't part of our weekend, it was International Kissing Day. I got lots of kisses from and gave lots of kisses to my baby and I mentioned later to Jeremy how he and I didn't kiss at all that day. Huh.