Happy Birthday, America!

We are so excited to spend the 4th of July holiday with my parents and family in Munster. We arrived on Thursday and have been having fun relaxing, playing with the dogs, and trying to catch Gio before he puts another bruise on his forehead or his knees (i have lost track this week alone). Today brought back a flood of childhood memories as we took the little guy to his very first parade. This is the ideal parade to take a toddler to, it is at the end of the street and lasted about 10 minutes! The parade literally consisted of The Color Guard, 1 Boy Scout troop, 4 firetrucks, and about 60 neighborhood kids riding their decorated bikes. We had a blast when we were kids decorating our bikes with crepe paper and waving to our parents as they proudly watched from the sidewalk. So, today, it was so sweet for me to take my son to the parade that was such a big part of my childhood. It was also nice because all of the children other than Gio were actually IN the parade so he received full attention from the firemen and the kids in the parade. He was not phased by the loud noise and just loved the firetrucks. We have been reading him "Curious George goes to the Fire Station" every day for the past month so I'm sure he was looking for a curious little monkey to be on top of the truck! Some adorable kids even had their own stash of candy they threw him but we split up the tootsie rolls (a parade necessity) between the adults. Since he was not in the parade, he missed out on the juice box and Ho-Ho's at the end but he was worn out and ready for a nap! Although we had hoped the rain would stop for the afternoon parade as the weathermen suggested it would, they were of course wrong and the rain persisted. We braved more rain for the Munster parade and Gio loved watching the firetrucks,the big bands, and most importantly, Grandpa, marching in the parade! The rain didn't bother him, he did not want to leave and so enjoyed every aspect of the day! Bryan did make me cry at the parade (ok, first the Pearl Harbor survivors made me cry) because he commented that it is sad to think this is one of our last holidays with him as an only child. We are elated to welcome a new addition to our family but we are trying to make the most of every minute with our sweet little boy before he becomes a big brother in December. I look forward to many more occassions of celebrating holidays like this as a family of four, making their childhood memories and waving to them proudly from the sidewalk! We are truly blessed to live in this great country and I am so grateful for all the men and women who have fought to maintain our freedoms. I may go have another piece of cheesecake to celebrate just that:)