Happy Fourth!

Part 1.  The parade.  Pictures in no particular order (takes way too long to rearrange them).

The Bothell parade.  I have grown up going to it every Fourth and have loved carrying on the tradition with my kiddos.  When we first got married, John wasn't so into the whole "spirit of the parade."  But, I think requiring him to attend these past 5 years has helped changed his mind and now he looks forward to it as much as I do.  It is great because it is within walking distance of my parents house, they put out chairs early to save seats, and it is a exciting way to start the celebrations! 

My mom, John and Tate went down early for the Kids Parade while I hung out at the house waiting for Blake to get every last minute of a nap he could before we headed down to the parade.  Blake doesn't have a whole lot of patience, so it was nice to show-up right as the main parade was starting. 

Blake was so happy!   

 All smiles for the parade (well, most of the time anyways).

 Tate and Grandma getting an early start on all the fun.

 My dad went to get Karrie from the airport in the morning and they made it back just in time for the parade to start.  Tate was of course thrilled to have Auntie Karrie there too.

 Blake just kicked-back and enjoyed all the different things coming down the street!

 . . . cool things like a miniature horse and really tall guy.

 Grandma and Grandpa getting some Blakey time.

 Ahhh, the Old Navy family:)

 Old Navy baby and mom.

Tate isn't much for getting his picture taken and you really have to be fast to get any pictures with some sort of his face in them and not just the back of his head.

 The Sea Fair Pirates.  They are definitely a highlight of the parade and Tate was waiting for them.  He had just watched "Despicable Me" with his dad and so his new word has been despicable.  He kept saying he was going to tell those pirates they are despicable! 

 So, the pirates start going by and Tate marches up to one of them like he is going to tell them just how despicable they are.  This pirate turns around and growls at Tate and Tate comes flying back to me.  Karrie got this picture as Tate made it back to my arms-it was so funny!  None of us thought that would happen.  It still makes me smile thinking about it.  A very pirate thing to do.



Luckily, there was a "nice pirate" after that pirate who gave Tate a sticker and even stopped for a picture.

Tate liked holding the pirates sword.  We talked about that "incident" the rest of the day. 

It was great.