The Fourth of July

Town flag being hung.

My "peace of cake" made by Steve.

Pen's beloved "wonder wheel"

Pen with Pig in a sling on a carnival ride.

Pen and Pig on a carnival ride.

Carnie fries on my birthday.

Celeste and Violet

Pen and Celeste hula hooping and jump roping.

Jess, Vi, and Celeste

Celeste and Deagan toasting marshmallows

Erica and Pen

Aunt Linda and Vi

Deagan 

Ready to walk to a concert

Tom and Vi and carnie fries

Sharing

Dancing

Baby Foo Foo at a concert

Pen at a concert.

Vi raiding the dinner bag at a concert.

Me and my girls.

Steve and Pen dancing.

Carnival Bears

Roller Coaster

Charles and the girls

Charles at the Carnival

Playing the fishing game.

Her prize!

Carnie food

More carnie food.

Charles and Steve on a ride.

At the carnival.

Pen, Vi, and Pig under the stroller's raincoat on the way to the last concert and fireworks.

Throwing rocks in the water while waiting for the concert to be over and the fireworks to begin.

A little pre-firework drama for our entertainment.

Cute old baby

Violet watching the fireworks.

Vi, Pen, and Pig watching the fireworks.

Fourth of July pancakes.

Waiting for the parade to begin.

Cutie Pie

She was watching horses in the parade.

When they fired these cannons off in front of us while Pen was in my belly she jumped, she still doesn't like them.

Exhaustion

Bristol is home of the oldest 4th of July parade in the country, so it is a celebration that goes on for weeks here, ending with the parade. We started with the concerts even before my birthday, and on my birthday the carnival began. We visited it nearly every day, it is Pen's favorite thing in the world, she waits for it all year. We went to concerts every night, some of them were really great, and even the one's that weren't were still fun. Penelope loved running around with other children, some she knows from around town, others were new friends. She danced, played tag, and hide and seek until it was dark. She brought Baby Foo Foo to all of them because everyone always brings their dogs to these concerts by the water. It was really funny to watch all the real dogs be completely freaked out by Baby Foo Foo as she stood there, silently, staring and looking pretty real, but just not being quite right. We brought our dinner every night and it was always lovely, cool and breezy. My brother Tom came to a couple with us. Steve made it to only one, but he got to go to the carnival a bunch.

My brother Charles came over one day and we went to the carnival with him. It was a lot of fun, he played some games, won a prize, and ate a lot of carnie food. He and Steve went on a ride together, Pen and Steve went on a ton of rides together. It was a great day, Pen cried when Charles had to go home and I almost cried when Charles bent down and hugged her and said "oh, it's o.k.", so rare is it that we have a day where he is so bright and clear and aware.

We stayed in town the whole time, with the one exception of cousin Celeste's 9th birthday party, which was a lot of fun. Pen got to swim and play with her cousins, both the big ones and the little ones. We ate a ton of good food, enjoyed good company, and it was a beautiful day.

The girls and I went down for the last concert and fireworks, and then the next day was the parade. We made fourth of July pancakes and used the last of the strawberries we picked last month and froze, they were still so good. We brought a cooler with cold drinks, sandwiches and watermelon and found a nice, shady spot. It was never too hot, sort of breezy and not humid. It is awesome to live right near the parade route, we can just walk up the street and find a spot, and when we need to use the bathroom we can just run back home and be spared the port-a-potty grossness. After the parade we came home to nap, then we had a cookout in our back yard and after the girls had been bathed and put in pajamas we set off a bunch of fireworks to end the whole thing. Today we are taking it easy and recovering from all the madness, but it was so much fun. We got to hear a ton of good music, spend time with lots of people we love, see fireworks, a parade, ride the rides, and eat way too many carnie fries. I can't wait to do it all again next year!