Fourth of July

I finally made a few red white and blue food items for the fourth of July this year.

The Cherry cinnamon rolls took a bout four hours longer than they should have because I decided to chat with Tyler while I measured out the ingredients. Bad idea. I had to try and triple the batch after I added three times the amount of water to the yeast. I also only had enough white flour for one batch so ended up having to grind some whole wheat for the remaining 6 cups required to triple the batch. :(  They actually turned out way better than I thought they would. More biscuit like than the typical soft stretchy white cinnamon rolls that I am used to but hey my expectations were low and they were definitely palatable. I only rolled out one pan of rolls and still have the dough in the freezer for another day.

Grant and Spencer seemed especially excited that I made a special fourth of July breakfast and chanted mommy is the best while they waited to say breakfast prayers. That made the extra four hours worth it. :)

After our yummy breakfast we piled into the van and headed to the Summerlin patriotic parade where a friend was able to hook us up with VIP seats. We sat under a tent with fans while enjoying complimentary great harvest bread products, fresh fruit and cold drinks. We were also provided fourth of July flags, pins, necklaces and frisbees.  The parade was a hit!

This big eagle float was the highlight of the parade for Grant and Spencer until...

...the storm troopers came into view!!!

Did I mention that VIP seating is where it's at.

Grant was not feeling very well and took a little snooze about an hour into the parade...we decided it was time to go at that point.

On our way back to the car Tyler doused the boys with the remains of our cold water from the VIP section. It felt like summer for real when that happened. It was a hot few blocks back to the parking lot. Jumping in the pool at that point sounded really nice.

Once we got home Spencer got out his own parade items and started marching around singing patriotic songs and playing pretend instruments.

Then we made up some burgers and had a barbecue with Tyler's old roommate Ryan. The food was wonderful and so was the company. Tyler and Ryan talked for about an hour and a half on the couch while I zonked out. I can't believe how tired I am ALL THE TIME...I am a full on pregnant person now.  After my nap we had some ice cream and headed over to the pool. It had been raining and the temperature dropped significantly.  Even though the pool was cold Grant and Spencer had a really good time.

Next we watched the fireworks put on by Red Rock Casino. We found a high wall to sit on and enjoyed all 9 minutes of the show.

Finally we lit our own fireworks at a nearby parking lot. Tyler seemed really excited about the whole thing. ;) So excited that he finally said in mock exasperation (or so I thought) lets just fuse all the rest of these little fountains together and be done with it. It looks cooler that way anyway. He was right it was better. Our finale fountains were great and they ilicited big cheers from the boys. Grant's cheers seemed half hearted...more of an attempt to make us feel better about our efforts I think than anything. The grossest yet most intriguing part was the snakes of course. Again Tyler thought it best after lighting a few just to light them all at once. Spencer and Grant didn't fail to pick up on the resemblence they shared with something that has to do with Dogs and grossness.

I would say our firework lighting experience was a lot of fun for the boys.  Grant did notice though the people next to us shooting off much nicer more expensive fireworks. He thought momentarily of merging with them but quickly dismissed the idea becuase he was sure they would gain nothing by adding us and they would have the worse end of the deal.