4th of July '14

Last year we had perhaps the most boring 4th of July ever. Spokane is pretty lame when it comes to celebrating our nation's birthday. Rich and I had become used to Utah, where there's a parade in every neighborhood, and there are fun fairs like Cherry Days in North Ogden and Freedom Festival in Provo, and practically anything goes with fireworks. Spokane might have a parade downtown, but it's obviously not a big deal because I don't even know if there is one. There are no fairs. And there are NO FIREWORKS. Except the the show downtown. We're talking not even sparklers allowed. All of the public school reader boards remind everyone of the $513 fine if you break the law. (Although, with the wildfires all over Washington state right now, it's hard to stay too mad at this rule.)

I just realized that I already went through this same rant last year, but I'm keeping it here anyway.

This year, we decided that we were not going to have the same boredom fest as last year. Forget a toddler's bedtime - we will fight traffic and toddler tantrums if we have to to make it to the fireworks show. Luckily, our friends Matt and Aubrey Heath had had the same boring experience last year, and they invited us over for a BBQ to make the day even more fun.

So much better than last year.

Norah and Alivia immediately got to playing once we got there. These two are such cute little besties, even though they fight over toys half the time. (Thanks to Aubrey for most of these pictures. Yes, I did raid your Facebook for them.)

 Alivia instructed Norah on the proper way to have a tea party. And Norah proceeded to spill her tea (aka water) all over her dress.

 Then Norah played the chauffeur.

 Inside, the adults and sweet little Scarlett enjoyed our hamburgers. This adorable little girl was not going to leave the eating to the big kids, either. She let her mommy know she wanted some of that hamburger.

Before leaving for fireworks, we made sure we got some pictures.

These two! So stinkin' cute!

Aren't these girls adorable?

Aubrey caught this shot of Norah. A perfect 4th of July shot. Oh my goodness, I love this girl.

Trying to get a good shot with Norah. I do kind of love the glare face one.

 Yeah, I'm laughing in this picture, but it's the only one of the three of us where Norah is looking at the camera.

 After the BBQ, we headed out to watch the fireworks. The show takes place over Riverfront Park, but you can see it from practically anywhere downtown. We parked by the Boy Scout office and camped out in the back of Matt's truck for the show. The fireworks started around 10, and Norah was absolutely spent at this point. I thought she'd love the show like she'd loved the fireworks at the Indians game, but all she wanted to do was snuggle up to me while I covered her ears. I think it was just too late for her. At least she didn't scream through the show (like a kid a couple cars away from us).

Since Norah was in desperate need of a cuddle, I didn't catch pictures from the show, but I did steal this last one from Aubrey.

Another perfect 4th of July shot.

Such a better holiday than last year. Thank you, Heaths, for the fun time!