Happy Fourth, Friends

Happy Fourth, Friends! Aside from Christmas, this is my absolute favorite holiday. Wait, who am I kidding? I love Jesus, but I think this actually is my favorite holiday.

Tomorrow is my birthday, I love the USA, the weather is perfect, and this time of year it is just so easy to #CelebrateAbsolutelyEverything. July is just as magical as December.

I’m thankful for the bravery that has led to our freedom, and that we may freely celebrate this day.

I didn’t take a ton of pictures today, as I have been working to be more present (a tough balance for this blogger mom).

~

I’ve gotta tell you, small town parades are just the best, guys. We showed up 15 minutes before show time, walked up and made a temporary home with a blanket, stroller, and two chairs right next to some strangers at the end of the parade route, greeted more people with a “good morning” as they arrived or walked by, and made room for plenty of kids with their parents and grandparents.

The kids on the streets all shared candy by the handful and the adults chatted cheerfully with each other.

The town’s parade we visited consists of the floats heading down the street one way, turning around and heading back the other way. 🤣 It’s genius!

In full honesty, the weather was so dang hot as we loaded up the van in the morning. I was kinda dreading it, because I hate sweating while I’m dealing with kids in public, especially with a full face of makeup (& I wore allll the makeup for this occasion because… well, I don’t even know why, a little mascara would’ve covered the job fine). Oh, and I forgot deodorant in the rush of filling water bottles and getting the family ready, so of course I huffed about that.

Whatever, I mean there are starving children in the world and people right here within our community suffering deep pain… Who am I to complain about sweating, right? I mean, where is my gratitude for a properly working excretory system?

I prayed for it to cool down anyway, because I believe God still cares.

You guys, it dropped like a good 10 degrees at least, the sun hid behind the clouds and we were blessed with a sweet cold mist of rain that lasted only a few minutes. It was amazing! Best parade experience yet! Plus all of our kids are at perfect ages for the parade this year.

The rest of our 4th was spent eating donuts (Mr. Awesome’s idea) and just chilling in the backyard while we played in the water with the kids.

I’m so so so blessed to have mundane moments like these with my tribe.

I always wanted to be a big city girl, and some days I miss that dream, but right now, today, small town #Iowa still has my heart.

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I feel like another giveaway is in order- stay tuned!