4th of July

 Parade with Travis, Bree, Dani and Charleene; and DJ and Whitney.

 Races at the church. They got a quarter for each race. Here's KayDee's.

 Derrick's

 Samantha's

 Kevin's

Mother/Daughter

4th of July Parade 2011

We decorated the kids bikes for the 4th of July parade this year. The kids had fun riding. KayDee rode her bike back and forth, but not really part of the parade. I was very happy since she has lacked the  confidence to ride on the street until now. The kids picked up some pretty good candy. Kevin drove the fire truck and I took pictures and stayed available if the kids had a problem.
I got to run through the end  of the parade chasing the fire truck since our car was parked at the church and I didn't want to walk. Don't worry, I waved as I ran.

Fancy Nancy at the Reunion

The Laub's have their family reunion over the 4th of July, so we are busy during this weekend. Kevin's cousin read the Fancy Nancy book to all the little girls and then had them dress up fancy for a fun party.
Derrick and KayDee rode on the barrel train hooked up to the 4-wheeler and Samantha rode a 3-wheeler by herself. Kevin's cousin only taught her to use 1st gear, which was a good thing because she likes to go fast!
The food was good. Kevin's cousin made lunch for everyone and then his grandma had dinner catered with dutch oven.
I played softball with most of the cousins and Kevin slept a lot since he was lacking sleep from the rodeo (he finishes each night around 1:00 am). They also played the "Deal or No Deal" game his aunt made.

Parade

Everyone was in the parade this year except for me and KayDee. Justin and Rachel drove the white brush fire truck and Kevin drove the red fire truck. Samantha and Derrick rode their bikes, which we decorated with Rachel's help. There was really no competition for candy this year, since all the kids collecting it were younger than KayDee. She brought her pink backpack to be sure to get enough for Samantha and Derrick. People threw candy, popcicles and fifty cent pieces.
Our town has some neat traditions for the Forth of July. Of course we have the Rodeo, and on the 4th the fire trucks drive up and down the street with their sirens on to alert everyone to come to the flag raising ceremony, which is followed by breakfast at the park. The breakfast is really good too, it includes pancakes, eggs and potatoes.

4th of July

We spent the 4th of July celebration with Justin and Rachel. Rachel loves this holiday so she cooked amazing ribs and they had Justin's family over (which are Kevin's relatives too) and we ate heartily. Then we went to hear Rachel sing the National Anthem at the Rodeo and afterwards we did the fireworks in the driveway. Maxine and Jack were sitting with Sam and Derrick watching so they wouldn't get burned. Maxine was traumatized by an ash falling on her toe, so they stayed back. The dogs sure didn't like the noise, but the flashing lights didn't bother them.