Stars, Stripes, and Matchy Matchy

I learned something about myself recently: As long as I have access to a camera, I will always take more pictures than I have time to blog about. Yet, when I do sit down to work on a blog post, I attempt to pick up where I left off and cram in as many photos in as possible. That is why this blog post, written at the end of August, is mostly about the Fourth of July, and why it is, as usual, brimming with pictures. First-world problems, what can I say?

The Fourth of July Parade happened again in our neighborhood this year. Forest, Ramona, and Mika decorated bikes, ate cotton candy, and got on the parade route that morning.

 I don't have a bike to decorate, so I decorated Paula, instead. Then I took her and Wylie around the corner to watch the parade go by.

 Wylie kept busy with his little car while we waited for the parade to begin.

Eventually, we saw the herd of bicycles and scooters come down the street, and found Ramona on her new 20-inch ride.

 Then we spotted Mika and Daddy.

 After Ramona and Mika enjoyed some post-parade snow cones . . .

. . . the girls had some backyard swimsuit time . . .

 . . . followed by some mandatory naptime.

Later in the afternoon, we got ready to go to a friend's house for a barbeque. We felt very American, indeed.

In the evening, it was time to get ready for some fireworks. The girls changed their clothes and got some (temporary) patriotic tatoos. Forest packed a giant backpack full of folding chairs, bugspray, and snacks so he could carry all of the supplies while Wylie and I stayed home.

Here are the girls by the Timnath Reservoir, waiting for the show to begin. It was Paula's first time watching fireworks.

It sounded like the girls did great and Paula was especially impressed with the show. The next morning, I had the girls don some more red, white, and blue (their shirts still fit from last year) so I could take a "matchy matchy" picture.

Oh how I love matchy matchy pictures. A look back at some other matchy matchy photographs from 2017--

Paula and Ramona's matchy sweaters:

Paula had just finished eating a red sucker before I took these pictures. It looks like she is wearing some bright red lipstick.

Ramona and Mika's matchy sweatshirts:

Ramona and Mika's matchy tennis T-shirts:

Wylie and Daddy's matchy Italian soccer jerseys:

Mika and Paula's matchy dresses:

Mika and Wylie's matchy sweatshirts:

Alright, one blog post down and four more blog posts to go. You know I've got it good when I complain about having more pictures of my children than I know what to do about.