Still soggy!

Well, all the parades and fireworks were either cancelled or postponed until today.  We ended up going to the Waukee parade, even though it looked like it was going to rain.  Well, it did rain on us most of the parade, but it was just a light rain.  The kids still had fun collecting the candy.

I couldn't get them to turn around and look at me for a picture, so everything I have is their backs.  Hope kept giving me a play by play of how many pieces of candy she had after each one she grabbed.  She got so excited when one person walked right by and put something right in her bag.  She didn't even have to battle for it.  :)  This was at the beginning of the parade, but by the end it was raining heavier and we were kind of wet by the time we got back to the van.  Oh well.  Not sure if the fireworks will go off tonight or not, so we will have to catch those some other time.

Also, since it rained yesterday, the I-cubs game was cancelled too.  So we decided to go out to eat, since it was too wet to grill out too.  Well,  we tried several places, and ended up at a Japanese steak house because it was one of the few places open on the 4th of July.  We laughed because it was kind of similar to the ending of "A Christmas Story" where their turkey get eaten by the dog so they end up at the Japanese restaurant on Christmas Day.  Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra, Ra Ra Ra Ra!  :)

Hope is hidden behind Noah, on the far left side of the photo.  She got scared the first time he got the grill hot with the large flame, and was a little worried the second time too.  Noah kept telling her it was ok that it would just be a little fire this time.  Noah and his family love to eat at Japanese steak houses, so he knew just what to expect.

Hope was trying to catch the steam from the hibachi grill.  Our food was fabulous, and we went home and had home made strawberry shortcake.  YUM!  And we played games.

Finally, it stopped raining long enough for us to get outside to do some sparklers in the back yard.  That is all we are allowed to do in IOWA, but some of our neighbors started shooting off the larger fireworks.

I hope everyone had a great and safe holiday weekend.  Now back to work tomorrow!  Bummer!  At least it will be a short week.  Yeah!

Darla