the fourth then and now

I am not sure what it is about documenting the 4th of July that is so difficult for me, but apparently it's a pattern; in the five years I've been blogging there has not been one single 4th of July post. All that is about to change, folks. In true speed-blogging fashion, I'm going to mingle a few old photos in with the new as an attempt to make myself feel better about slacking off for all these years. Plus, it's actually really fun to see the different years' celebrations side-by-side as documentation of the evolution of our family. So here we go: a look at our 4th of July traditions and fun, mostly from this year, with a few of the vintage ones for fun.

There is a group of girls that I run with every morning when the weather is good (meaning: late spring, all summer, and early fall). There are typically 3-5 of us that go, sometimes as many as 6 or 7, all of us pushing jogging strollers (many of us pushing double joggers, one of us pushing a triple) and it is especially awesome when some of the older kids ride their bikes along. We get plenty of smiles, laughs, and comments as our entourage moves along the parkway. Anyway, one of these running friends of mine and I have run in a little race on the 4th of July for the past two years, and it has been a fun way to start off our holiday. Last year we ran the Riverton 10K-- she was a few months pregnant and I was a few months un-pregnant (ie: Pearl was 3 months old), so we were a good team :).

These are from last year. Christina and I after finishing, and then me nursing a ravenous Baby Pea who was not sure why her mama was not at home that morning to feed her.


And then here we are this year, after finishing the 5K in Murray (they didn't have a 10K option or we would have done that, but after the race I was pretty happy it was only a 5K-- I don't know why I felt so weak, but I was glad to cross that finish line after 3 miles instead of 6!). Now our boys are 4, she has a new baby, and I still have my nursing baby who was still a little mad that I wasn't home to nurse her, but now she's 15 months and can walk over and squeeze my legs when she sees me for the first time instead of just screaming.
(As an aside, do you like how I am wearing the exact same outfit both years? That is my favorite tank top to run in. It was John's dad's basketball jersey from long ago (I'd guess the 80's, but I suppose it could be the 70's), and John inherited it along with a few other choice articles of clothing (including some pretty sweet track shorts) that he would never wear. I figured I should not let a perfectly awesome tank top rot away in a pile, and now that tank top and I have run miles and miles together. I love it because it is the perfect length and tightness and the perfect shade of retro blue, but also because it was John's dad's and I like to think about the amazing man who used to wear it. A man that I've never met that I owe so much to. I think he'd like that I get to hold his grandbabies while wearing his basketball jersey :).)



Baby girl missed me and wanted to nurse, but was soon distracted by a banana and popsicle.


We stayed and watched the parade (much to my husband's chagrin), and George thought it was pretty much the best thing ever. By the way, I do not know why he insists on wearing his hats sideways, but he does, so we roll with it.


George and Jakey got bags to collect their candy in, and it was a miracle there were not little boys fist-fighting over pieces of taffy. They were serious about their candy-collecting.



Pearl and I watched from the curb and saw a couple of lovely things.


The first was Mayor Snarr with his fantastic mustache.


And the second was the happy surprise of John's darling cousins marching in all their Scottish attire. We didn't know they were going to be there and I probably embarrassed them as a ran along backwards in front of them taking their pictures and smiling and waving frantically. Look at how cute they are though! You would've been excited, too!


Oh look, what do you know, we went to a parade last year, too! It's cracking me up that George is pointing at a firetruck in this one from last year in the same way as the one above from this year. This was a parade down Main Street in Vernal, UT. We had gone camping that weekend near there and decided to make it into town that morning for the parade. I really need to post more pictures from that weekend last year because I have a billion and I love them. Soon, maybe.


After the parade this year, we went home and decided to go play at our park for a bit before we had a barbecue. George rode the 100 yards over to the park in style on his PowerWheels truck that our neighbors generously gave him a couple of years ago. We all played around on the basketball courts for a bit...


...Some of us more seriously than others :).


These little legs were made for walkin', and she is a little maniac, walk-running as fast as she can to get to places that she knows she's not supposed to go.


Like down the sidewalk and up the stairs to the road with her daddy and brother in hot pursuit.

This sweet moment was captured right before he tried to "help" her off and ended up running over her foot. There were tears, his not hers, because he had to take a break from the truck (he was being mighty careless and hasty in his driving :)), followed by an early escort home for him from his mama, followed by angry sobs coming from his room and, "I want a NEW mama! I'll never be my mama's friend again!" It is pretty rough to be my offspring, apparently.

After George had decided that his life really wasn't so bad and some apologies and hugs were had by all (and after he had changed into his favorite basketball outfit), we lit a few sparklers. Don't let Pearl's squinted eyes fool you-- she was fearless with those things and swung them around like it was her job, prompting us to run and duck for cover. Really. We finally had to just take them away from her because she would not let us hold on to them along with her to prevent her from burning and maiming her brother and the trees.

Later that night we headed to Sandy for the Real game that has become tradition for us on the 4th. 

Sugar is always a notorious part of these games as a means of keeping busy children happy and seated. Unfortunately this method doesn't really fly with Pearl. She is obsessed with going up and down stairs and makes demanding screams in their direction until we finally cave and go climb up and down with her. If it makes you feel any better (it does me), we always make sure she uses a nice voice and says please before we fold :).

Here is a shot of our little family this year outside the stadium.

And here we all are last year in the stadium before the fireworks. Look at that chubby little Pea!

She was much less disruptive last year when all I had to do to keep her happy was nurse her.

George has always been easy and mellow at the Real games. Last year on the 4th we splurged on some cotton candy and he was in sticky-fingered heaven.

My boy enjoying (with caution, of course) the fireworks at the stadium last year.

He has always been cautious (unlike his sister). This was when we lit fireworks at home last year.

And this was from the year before (2009) when it was just the three of us. I love these pictures.

Sparklers have also been a constant at our 4th of July celebrations. Here, in 2009. George, of course, held the flame as far away from his body as possible. His sister tried to grab the flame this year, for the record.

Here are a couple from last year (2010).

And finally, from this year.

We also had fun with a few little fireworks in our driveway.

Someone always had to keep ahold of Pearl so she didn't run right into the fire. Look at her delighted grin. She cracks me up.

Here her responsible big brother held onto her with both hands to keep her nice and safe.


John suggested that we go up on the roof to watch some fireworks from around the valley. It was so much fun because we could see them in all directions.


I played around with the settings on my camera because it was way too dark to get any kind of focus without a flash, but I didn't want a harsh, bright flash. I liked the way these shots turned out, especially this one because it looks like George has a little twin ghost.


Perhaps the roof wasn't the safest idea with our daredevil one year old. Don't worry, we were careful :).


Proof that I was on the roof, too.


All in all, a very happy day (all three years :)). Until next year! (If I post about it... or I guess I could say, "Until 2015, when I post about the previous 3 years of 4th of July celebrations!)