4th of July Snidbits

The 4th of July this year will NEVER be forgotten, BUT not because we attended our 4th of July Annual beach trip like normal, or because we did anything overly spectacular, or even because the fire works were great. RATHER, it was the day we received our power back after 5 whole days without it. It was bitter-sweet. "Huh?" you ask? I can admit now that I was secretly praying we didn't get our power back until July 5th because I didn't want to spend the 4th of July emptying our two refrigerators/freezers filled with stinky/dead food. You don't always get what you wish/pray for though.

As the news broke that our power was back on, we were immediately filled with immense responsibility. We had to clean my in-laws home from top to bottom. Then we had to clean our own home, as well as the two refrigerators/freezers we own. When we were threw with all of that, all I wanted to do was shower and go to bed, but I knew the kids and Aunt Whitney would NEVER let me forget that it was the 4th of July.

We took the family to the State Fair. Oh, the fair.... It's always hysterical going there. It's hot, sticky, expensive, smelly, dirty, and best of all, filled with all kinds of people that you seem to never see anywhere else. Unfortunately, my camera lens died after three or four shots, so the pictures are very scarce.

We were able to let the kids ride about 6 rides each and watched some of the fireworks, but Darren had to return to work the next day, so we ended the evening earlier than normal :(

In honor of celebrating our FREEDOM, Aunt Whitney and Ty made an American Flag cake together. This was a tradition that I used to have with my mom every year. It's neat revisiting these traditions with your own children.

Posing for a photo before beginning. I can't wait to frame this photo.

Cracking the eggs.

Checking out the directions. "It's hard to concentrate on baking when you are baking with a 7 year old." LOL! She didn't really say this, but it's true.

They used red and blue sprinkles inside the cake batter to make it more festive.

Sadly to say, MOST of US are on "diets" so 95% of this cake was thrown out.