Our 4th of July this year was quite memorable, especially for not having any plans in advance (other than eating red, white and blue popsicles of course!) This was the first 4th of July that Graham and I have BOTH had off in the history of our marriage so we filled the day to the brim! We started the day with a family walk (bike ride for Isla) to Starbucks for some FREE drip coffee (in honor of the 4th) and our favorite Chonga bagels.
After a quick nap for Emma, we packed a special picnic lunch (read: star-shaped) and joined our friends Jeremy & Oliver for our 1st ever Kirkland parade experience. The parade was surprisingly long and Isla loved all the different old cars and kept telling us which one she wanted. Emma loved the balloons tied to the stroller in front of us. :)
Before heading home, we stopped at Starbucks for ANOTHER free drip coffee (we are American) and the girls got their own balloons from a local shop.
After naps, we lounged in the backyard and ate our festive homemade treat. Graham posted a picture of Isla eating the popsicle on Facebook and I was alarmed that the majority of the comments made were something to the extent of "You let Isla have a popsicle?!" Yes, people. It was a holiday after all! :)
I did some grilling and made a delicious picnic dinner if I do say so myself: grilled jerk chicken, grilled corn on the cob with spicy lime butter and homemade potato salad.
We took the food to the Kirkland Marina where we met up with the Welchs (this time Rachel was there as well). There was a DJ playing music and Isla just couldn't get enough of the dancing. She wanted me to spin her until we were "so, sooooo dizzy." We kept asking her if she wanted to eat and she told us she wanted to keep dancing (unheard of for this girl who adores her dinner!)
As it turns out, we were picnicking right behind Seattle Sounder's Ozzie Alonso. Graham wasn't shy at all and approached him for a picture (and proceeded to blow his cover as he'd gone unnoticed before...)
We'd set out blankets at Heritage Park earlier in the day to reserve a firework-viewing spot. After dinner, we carted the girls home, put them to bed, had a cocktail, and then got them up an hour and 15 minutes later to go watch the fireworks. Yes, you read that right. We tore them out of bed at 9:15 PM to watch a 10:15 PM show! Such irresponsible parents! But it was worth it. Isla ate it up and kept saying the fireworks were "so beautiful!" I'd popped some popcorn for Isla (a first for her!) and Kettle corn for us so we had something to munch on while we watched. I'm pretty sure Emma wished she were back in bed but with constantly bouncing, we distracted her long enough to make it through the show.
Such a fun day!
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