Happy 4th of July!

Thanks to better planning and familiarity with the location and event, we were prepared for everything our day had in store. We kicked off the 4th by heading to the rides early on. Grace was tickled to be able to ride one of the ponies in the corral. She almost had to be pulled out as she made sure to greet her pony face to face and offer a few nose rubs and encouraging words in exchange for the ride.

Then it was off to the train ride with Daddy!


After the petting zoo, the kids hit the giant sandbox (a big hit for us last year), and we were able to cool off a bit from the heat for the next 45 minutes as they played. It was one of those days where you can feel the sweat rolling down the midline of your back.



A couple of hours before the fireworks, Ken took Jack for a water ride, and Grace and I headed toward the cotton candy stand. A huge line had formed, and we waited for 30 minutes for that fluffy blue stuff. Meanwhile, we watched as storm clouds and lightning began rolling in. The rain held off though...until it was our turn. Just when they were about to reach in the machine to get Grace her much deserved cotton candy, the supervisor halted everything and notified everyone that they were closing shop due to the severity of the lightning above.

How could they do that to a little girl??? Grace broke down in true crocodile tears. But soon we were both drenched, as a huge downpour fell on us all, and cracks of lightning surrounded us.

We met up with Ken and Jack and huddled under our one big umbrella for an hour as we waited the storm out. Right before the fireworks were scheduled to go off, the rain stopped, and the "biggest firework display in the southeast" went off without a hitch.