And the Other Fourth

Happy Independence Day! Idaho Falls does a pretty great 4th of July celebration.  We started off with the traditional parade watching with our friends. The kids love the music, cheerleaders, cars, horses, but mostly the candy they get during the parade!

Afterwards, we could head downtown to the festival on the river, but we always opt to eat lunch at home and rest up for the other remaining festivities. (And make our potluck entry, which was more strawberries: this time strawberry cupcakes with red, white, and blue toppings - homemade frosting with blueberries and tiny strawberries from our garden.)

Then we head over to our neighbors' for some backyard Olympics (Norwegian horseshoes, cornhole, and KanJam), grilled fare, and libations. It's always a good time! Someone is very into brackets, so the Olympics are no joke.  Serious bragging rights are at stake!

The kids run a little wild with water balloons, trampolines, slides, etc., but they all get along pretty well. Some take a little calmer route with sidewalk chalk.

As the sun sets, it's time to head to the river for the big fireworks show. $1 million in fireworks go off every year set to music over the radio! We have a pretty nice setup at a friend's office to avoid the traffic.

And Hadley wowed the audience with her dancing down in front of the fireworks (you can see some in the background). She's usually pretty reserved around groups, but she couldn't resist. Plus, I think she picked up some new moves from the cheerleaders she saw that morning at the parade.