An Idealistic Fourth of July

We had a great Fourth of July. So, so much fun.

Some of Mitch's 2013 fireworks photography.

It all began on the 3rd, when we more or less happened upon the Twin Oaks Concert in the Park and Fireworks Festival. We were supposed to meet at the park for Bible Study, but instead enjoyed the festivities with our Bible Study group.

It was great to sit on picnic blankets, listen to music, eat snacks, and enjoy the company of some of our closest friends. Not to mention that we've all had babies within the past 3 months. Hannah (on the right) is our newest addition, at only 10 days old.

The guys played with the kids in an open field near our picnic blanket. I found this activity particularly humorous. The dads passed the ball back and forth by swinging the toddlers through the air.

Later that evening we watched a great fireworks display. Clara was adorable. She was kinda scared and kinda loved it, which resulted in her cuddling up close, wrapping her arms around my neck, and repeating, "Whoa! Fireworks! Aren't dey pretty?" over and over again (which she had heard me say). :) So cute. So fun.

Mitch was busy trying some new photography techniques, which turned out really cool.

The next morning we met together again for the Kirkwood Fourth of July Parade and were joined by Ryan, Crystal & Anna.

 It was awesome. Clara and Matthew experienced their first parade, we all got lots of candy, Mitch and Gordon shouted supportive yet hilarious comments to all the passing floats, eliciting some funny responses, and Kristi cheered loudly for everyone giving stuff away which landed us all lots of goodies (combined with the fact that we were sitting with two toddlers.)  :)

The Reddicks joined us back at our house where THEY cooked us a wonderful, grilled, all-american Fourth of July lunch, which was fabulous.

Later that evening we ventured downtown for Fair St. Louis. We set up a picnic at the City Garden and, after eating, put Clara in a swimsuit to run around the spray grounds.

The wet ground was very reflective.

It was all fun until Clara pooped in her swimsuit...

After a while we made our way to Kiener Plaza to watch the fireworks display. Why Kiener Plaza? Mitch was on a mission to get this shot:

Want to know how he did his fireworks photography this year? Check out his new photography blog post.

All in all it was an idealistic way to pass our Fourth of July holiday. The weather was perfect, the kids were fun, and the company was great.