Bikes, Parades, Popsicles and Fireworks

On the weekend before the 4th of July, our city's festivities continued. Blake got the idea into his head that we needed to decorate his bike for the parade. As we were weaving crepe paper in and out of the tire spindles, he exclaimed, "I'm going to feel so happy riding this bike!"

A beaming smile spread across Blake's face as he showed off his wheels to the ladies.

We walked one block from our house to meet up with good friends for the curbside extravaganza.

Nash was over the moon about the collection of candy he gathered.

Somehow Crew still fell asleep with all of the sirens and chaos in the background.

Later that day, we met up with our friends for a BBQ. The boys set up their own "boys' club" where no girls were allowed. They made up a little chant that went something like "1, 2, 3, boys' club!" They all put their hands in and then fist pumped the air. So funny.

No BBQ would be complete without some popsicles. Did I mention that it was approximately 106 degrees outside?

Nash's beloved Bella snuck into the boys' club while the older boys weren't around to hold down the fort. 

We topped off the night with sparklers.

And a mighty fine fireworks show put on by our city. We loved setting up our blankets around the corner from our house and walking back home to avoid the crazy traffic. 

Blake got pretty emotional when he realized that he was going to have to wait a whole year for our city's celebration to happen again. It really is magical to have our neighborhood transform into a bustling hub one weekend each summer. Thankfully, the week of the 4th was just beginning, and we had much more to look forward to during my favorite week of the year.