Friday, July 9, 2010

epic water fight

we were so excited to be able to attend our friend's annual 4th of july breakfast they hold at their house. of course, we haven't been since 2006 (when i was pregnant with sean!) because we have been in alabama for the last 3 independence days. the parade was held on the 3rd this year, like a lot of different celebrations, since the 4th was on sunday. our friends dan & jane live in a little town called acton. every year acton has a big 4th of july parade that just happens to go down the road right behind dan & jane's house. so they have everyone come over early for a HUGE breakfast, california style- tamales, spanish scrambled eggs, homemade tortillas, quiches, fresh fruit, & waffles. i had to bring something southern so i made my banana pudding to throw into the mix ;) after everyone eats then we head out their back gate to where they set up different tents for all of us to sit under. there were probably 50 people at the party this year- so fun!

now there's one thing different about this parade then most other parades- because it takes place in the desert, it is HOT. and so, because it is HOT, people bring water guns. and squirt bottles. and water balloons. and hoses. and buckets of water. you get the picture. but not just the spectators... also a lot of the people on the floats bring it too. so every few floats the people in the parade start to egg people on, and then the water goes flying. the kids LOVE it. as you can see, my biggest kid of all was the first to jump in...

sean was not far behind! he cracked me up... he took a few minutes to warm up to what they were doing then he would run after the floats and chase them down the street until we called him back. it was such a joy to see him have a blast like that.

nolan sat on my mom's lap for the majority of the parade until he decided he wanted to play too. he couldn't figure out how to squirt the gun but by the amount of fun he was having i don't think he realized (or cared!)

one of the floats handed out little American flags and i thought this was so sweet... sean took a little water gun break to stand, wave his flag, and watch the parade. love this picture!

it was SO much fun. we enjoyed ourselves so much! the best part was the last float is a HUGE tank of water that they squirt out with a fire hose or something like that. it was epic. every single kid had a smile on their face (and so did their parents watching- or playing- with them)!

i enjoyed sitting in the shade and taking pictures. i would have joined them but i wore a white top to the parade... what a dork. if we're here next year for the 4th i'll make sure to think before i get dressed that morning! but i got to catch up with my good friends elisabeth and amanda... aren't they so pretty??

nolan was giving me a kiss and then he realized he could see himself in my glasses. it was so sweet!


after the parade we headed back to dan & jane's to hang out a little loner. the kids LOVED the hammock. they would swing themselves really hard and try to flip it over on purpose. this is so funny to me because the 3 kids on the hammock are each from one of the mom's in the picture above of me & my friends- abbie is amanda's, micah is elisabeth's, and sean is mine! micah is so big- he was our ring bearer in our wedding when he was 22 months old! wow!

dan is an amazing carpenter... he makes the most beautiful things! he has a huge, adorable shop (i'm sure he wouldn't want me to call it adorable. ha!) in his backyard that was perfect for pictures. i'm thinking about asking to borrow their backyard for a few photo shoots while i'm out here. and i cannot believe we actually got a cute family shot. i'm still waiting for the day when everyone is looking AND smiling but hey- beggars can't be choosers, right?

here's an outtake but i thought it was cute with sean waving the flag

here's a few other shots- from l to r: nolan throwing a fit (no not my kid!) while dathan is copying him, dathan looking patriotic but really he was covering up the words on his shirt, and my beautiful mommy & i!

as you can tell we really enjoyed ourselves! we may have to purposefully plan our california trips around the 4th just so we can go to this parade again ;)

has anyone else noticed that the blogging world has been so quiet recently? maybe everyone is having too much fun during the summer to post & comment. i know i haven't been able to comment as much as i usually do on all my favorite blogs because we have been so busy. but i've been trying! :)

1 comment:

A Family of Love said...

Love your pictures! It sounds like you and your family are having lots of fun in Cali. Summer is always a busy time for us.