SHAFFER KIDS

Fourth Fun

We had quite a fun and exciting 4th of July this year. It started with decorating Carter's Jeep the night before the 4th for the parade in downtown Ada. We had fun tying ribbons, streamers, and flags all over his Jeep. The parade starts with a "kid" section, where kids are encouraged to ride their bikes or any type of kid vehicle to kick off the festivities. Carter was very excited to join in on this tradition. Mia and I waited near the end of the parade route to see Carter and Dave (Carter drove, Dave ran behind). When they went by, Carter got a huge kick out of seeing us waving and taking pictures from the sidelines. He was so excited in fact that he forgot to watch where he was driving and almost took out some other parents taking pictures next to me. The rest of the parade was fun, Carter loved catching the flying candy, I think he took home more loot than at Halloween! After the parade we went home for lunch and a quick nap to recharge for the rest of the day's activities.

Here we are decorating the Jeep the night before the parade.

Carter and Dave are making their way up the parade route. It's a pretty long route for the kids!

Here he is concentrating on his driving, this was before he spotted me taking pictures.

Watching the rest of the parade

After Carter's nap, we headed out to Rockford where Meredith's parents live on Silver Lake. Carter had so much fun with all the other kids. He jumped on the trampoline, helped decorate and ride in the boat during the lake's boat parade, played in the water, and watched the fireworks at night. Carter was such a trooper despite the long day (and short nap) and Mia was wonderful too, for that matter. We were blessed with really good natured kids all day! The fireworks started 1.5 hours past his bedtime but he loved every second. This was his first real fireworks show and it was a great one!

Here is Carter trying on some 4th of July garb while we got ready for the boat parade.