OLYMPIC COLORS DAY

You might recall that last summer when the Olympics were going on in Rio, we did a little bit of our own celebrating here in Ohio.  We spent two weeks sporting our red, white, and blue and cheering on Team USA. 

And it was awesome!

But apparently I did not do a good enough job explaining things to the girls, because this year, when 4th of July rolled around, Brinlee was simultaneously very excited, and very confused about why decorations with "the olympic colors" (the American flag) were up all over the place!

I spent several days trying to clear up some of her confusion there... so far it hasn't stuck.

We'll keep working on that.

But in any case, our 4th of July/Olympic Colors Day was amazing! 

We actually did two whole days of celebrating.  Columbus did their downtown Red, White, and Boom firework show on Monday night, which was convenient! Tim had the 4th off, but did not have the 5th, so it worked out just perfect to do our late night partying on the 3rd.

We decided to bike down there....

Whoever thought that was a good idea was crazy.

It was me, OK? I thought it would be a good idea.  I'm crazy! Heaven knows I don't regularly exercise, so why I thought a 20 mile round trip bike ride was a good thing to jump into cold turkey I'm not really sure.  But we did it!

And it actually was a lot of fun.  I would consider doing it again next year for sure!

Besides, it was a great way to break in this awesome new bike trailer we just barely bought for a sweet deal on Craigslist. Woot!

While the girls and I waited for daddy to get home we got ourselves all dressed up, and took a few (read: took a ton!) of pictures, of course.  Just look at these stinking cute little patriotic peanuts!

We timed things just right.  By the time Tim got home and we got down there and found a spot to sit, we only had about an hour to kill before the show got started.
We went ahead and filled that hour with treats.
Cotton candy to be exact.

Brinlee had never had cotton candy before, but somehow she knew what it was, and she knew she wanted some.  She talked daddy into getting some, and she did love it! Just like she knew she would.

McKenna was actually afraid of the cotton candy and wouldn't eat any.
Funny little girl.
She stayed entertained playing Uno.

Oh the magic!  The show this year definitely didn't disappoint!
I don't know why we always go back and forth about whether or not we want to go down for this.  We're always really glad we did!

And then that 10 mile trip home...
I did survive though! As did the exhausted little ladies, thanks to Peter Pan on the iPad.

The next morning for the real 4th of July, we found a parade to go to.
I kind of love parades!  It turns out Tim is not a big fan of them though.
But he agreed to one anyway!  What a guy.

And then a BBQ for lunch and backyard pool day!

Since we had been running out the door to catch my parade we didn't have time for the breakfast I had planned. But it's becoming a tradition, and we didn't want to skip it. So, breakfast for dinner!

And then finish off the evening with backyard sparklers.

Perfect!

These dirty little feet say it all:

We had a fabulous time celebrating our wonderful country, and feeling so blessed and so grateful for all the sacrifices that have been made over the years so that we can have all of the freedoms and comforts we enjoy every day!  It really is amazing.

God bless America!