Our 4th of July started very early in the morning, as I had agreed to make part of our churches annual Independence Day Breakfast. While I scooted over to church with a bunch of french toast, Will dressed the kids and looked up times and locations for the other activities we had planned for the day. When I got back we hung our newly purchased American flag and hurried over to church for the presentation and breakfast. As usual, the presentation was nicely done with patriotic songs and talks and the breakfast was delicious! (I am patting myself on the back here--the table we picked happened to have one of my french toast batches on it.) We also enjoyed splendid company for the breakfast, squeezing six adults and eight little kids at a table set for eight. Check out the apparel of our table guests. Most of us tried to wear something red, white or blue--except Dave, whose green shirt says "This is what Irish looks like". Also worthy of note, all of Anne and Rory's boys are wearing matching outfits--even the baby--blue and white striped shirts with either red collars or red pants. Soooooo patriotic! And of course, my kids managed to make syrup an accessory, draping it all over their hands, shirt fronts and hair.
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What could be next on our day of fun and adventure, you ask? Why, the Rodeo of course! Yes, yes, my friends the town next to ours holds a Junior Rodeo every 4th of July. We were tipped off to this nifty fact last summer by the then Primary President. She casually mentioned attending a local rodeo every summer as a child. Not one to be daunted by a lack of solid details, Will sought the rodeo out and has reveled in exposing our children to rodeo culture ever since. Lorien gets to ooh and aah over the Rodeo Queen and her Princesses while Wyatt gets to watch boys not much older than he ride buckin' calf's and spit. The highlight of the rodeo, with out a doubt, is the pig scramble. Equipped with nothing but a yellow "Pig Scramble" paper pinned to their shirts, our children are sent out into the dusty ring to try and grab a screaming pig. Last year they were a little too inexperienced and bewildered to take much advantage of the situation. This year Wyatt marched purposefully out into the ring and lined up with the other kids. Lorien--as is her custom--clung to Daddy's hand and cried--not wanting to go any where near the screeching animals. I cannot blame her. Clare and I watched from the stands and despite the calm assurances of humane treatment from the announcer, I felt pretty bad for all these poor little pigs being corralled for the scramble. My feelings aside--the kids had a good time. Wyatt chased down pig after pig throwing himself on them with the best football tackle he could muster. For a boy who weighs all of 37 pounds soaking wet, this was no small feat. Not surprisingly, every pig was able to evade his attempts. Finally he succeeded in grabbing the leg of two different pigs long enough to catch the attention of the Rodeo Princesses who were handing out trophies. Once Lorien saw Wyatt get a trophy she mustered her courage enough to touch the back side of one pig. Not quite enough to get a trophy but a step in that direction. Both kids were proud, entertained and covered in mud--and maybe some manure...I tried not to look closely. With a greater reward of cotton candy we all settled in to watch a little more of the rodeo before heading home for some much needed rest. +++++++++++
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You might need to click on these pictures to see exactly what is going on. In the first--you can see one lone pig in the middle of the throng of children. I don't see Wyatt in that picture but you might be able to see Lorien sticking with Daddy and Uncle David tracking down Evan. In the second picture--you might notice Wyatt trying to grab a pig's head while some meddling father tries to hold a pig still for his daughter to win a trophy (The announcer told parents about six times NOT to hold the pigs for their kids and this guy got a big fat "BOOOO" from the rodeo crowd but his daughter still got a trophy.) And in the third picture--you might notice Wyatt prepping to pounce on a pig. Way to go Buddy!!!
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Once we ate our fill we were off to the next bit of festivity--the town parade. We live in a city whose population is 50 times larger than my home town, so you can imagine that their 4th of July parade is a bit more involved than any of the parades I saw as a kid. My children had never seen a parade before and so, where not disappointed in any way. We even found a spot near one of the many parade MC's so we'd know what float or group was coming up next. Lorien loved the cheerleaders and dance troops, Wyatt appreciated the various representatives from the military and Clare totally loved the Disney Princesses float. None of the kids would high-five any of the clowns and none of us knew what to do when the Church of Scientology float went by... We all liked seeing the horses, and while we held a certain appreciation for the street sweepers that followed, there was no love for the smell of what they cleaned up... We were lucky enough to have friends from breakfast come to watch the parade with us (The McDonald and Deans families). They happily offered their cheers and applauds with ours and entertained us with their unique parade commentary.
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Once we ate our fill we were off to the next bit of festivity--the town parade. We live in a city whose population is 50 times larger than my home town, so you can imagine that their 4th of July parade is a bit more involved than any of the parades I saw as a kid. My children had never seen a parade before and so, where not disappointed in any way. We even found a spot near one of the many parade MC's so we'd know what float or group was coming up next. Lorien loved the cheerleaders and dance troops, Wyatt appreciated the various representatives from the military and Clare totally loved the Disney Princesses float. None of the kids would high-five any of the clowns and none of us knew what to do when the Church of Scientology float went by... We all liked seeing the horses, and while we held a certain appreciation for the street sweepers that followed, there was no love for the smell of what they cleaned up... We were lucky enough to have friends from breakfast come to watch the parade with us (The McDonald and Deans families). They happily offered their cheers and applauds with ours and entertained us with their unique parade commentary.
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Take a second to appreciate the pregnant woman pushing the hi-jacked grocery cart on the left in the second picture--she sure is classy! (and resourceful--Great job Emily!)
What could be next on our day of fun and adventure, you ask? Why, the Rodeo of course! Yes, yes, my friends the town next to ours holds a Junior Rodeo every 4th of July. We were tipped off to this nifty fact last summer by the then Primary President. She casually mentioned attending a local rodeo every summer as a child. Not one to be daunted by a lack of solid details, Will sought the rodeo out and has reveled in exposing our children to rodeo culture ever since. Lorien gets to ooh and aah over the Rodeo Queen and her Princesses while Wyatt gets to watch boys not much older than he ride buckin' calf's and spit. The highlight of the rodeo, with out a doubt, is the pig scramble. Equipped with nothing but a yellow "Pig Scramble" paper pinned to their shirts, our children are sent out into the dusty ring to try and grab a screaming pig. Last year they were a little too inexperienced and bewildered to take much advantage of the situation. This year Wyatt marched purposefully out into the ring and lined up with the other kids. Lorien--as is her custom--clung to Daddy's hand and cried--not wanting to go any where near the screeching animals. I cannot blame her. Clare and I watched from the stands and despite the calm assurances of humane treatment from the announcer, I felt pretty bad for all these poor little pigs being corralled for the scramble. My feelings aside--the kids had a good time. Wyatt chased down pig after pig throwing himself on them with the best football tackle he could muster. For a boy who weighs all of 37 pounds soaking wet, this was no small feat. Not surprisingly, every pig was able to evade his attempts. Finally he succeeded in grabbing the leg of two different pigs long enough to catch the attention of the Rodeo Princesses who were handing out trophies. Once Lorien saw Wyatt get a trophy she mustered her courage enough to touch the back side of one pig. Not quite enough to get a trophy but a step in that direction. Both kids were proud, entertained and covered in mud--and maybe some manure...I tried not to look closely. With a greater reward of cotton candy we all settled in to watch a little more of the rodeo before heading home for some much needed rest.
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You might need to click on these pictures to see exactly what is going on. In the first--you can see one lone pig in the middle of the throng of children. I don't see Wyatt in that picture but you might be able to see Lorien sticking with Daddy and Uncle David tracking down Evan. In the second picture--you might notice Wyatt trying to grab a pig's head while some meddling father tries to hold a pig still for his daughter to win a trophy (The announcer told parents about six times NOT to hold the pigs for their kids and this guy got a big fat "BOOOO" from the rodeo crowd but his daughter still got a trophy.) And in the third picture--you might notice Wyatt prepping to pounce on a pig. Way to go Buddy!!!
Originally, we had planned to meet friends for dinner and to watch the fireworks in a city south of home. After the rodeo, we realized our children were in no condition to behave themselves at a restaurant---forget about hanging out for hours waiting for fireworks to go off. We also knew they would be terribly disappointed if they did not get to see fireworks. In a brilliant moment of compromise we loaded up and went over to Will's office. Our town's fireworks display is set off in the port behind his office. We had a comfortable (and warm) place to wait, with movies, games, toys and food to distract and entertain until it was time to head outside for the show. A lovely and understanding woman made space for us on the grass and we had a perfect view of the fireworks. Like the kids, I loved the fireworks, but more than the sparkling, sulfur-fueled lights above I enjoyed looking over at the faces of my family as they were illuminated below. Their bright blue eyes filled with delight and the smiles in on their lips were enough to melt my heart. It truly was a really, really, really great day.
Admittedly--I am most proud of the first painting (a watercolor) and the last (in oil). The last one took me every session for the last three weeks. I think it turned out lovely. My least favorites are the strange fall landscape (in acrylic) and the oranges (in oil). The oranges painting is on this big 16x20 canvas and it is kind of too much. Don't tell Lorien, but the ballet slippers painting is going to be a birthday present for her. As you can see, I'm no professional but am thankful for a bit of time to be creative and work on something just for me.
