July 4th

On Fourth of July weekend, we went to a Richmond Kickers soccer game. They had bounce houses and a giant slip-n-slide set up for the pre-game party. The girls had a lot of fun. Since Leland had attended a soccer clinic of theirs in the spring she enjoyed finding her coaches on the field and getting autographs after the game.
On Sunday night, I took the 2 big girls to watch fireworks. We went to Dogwood Dell which was ridiculously packed with people. It took me forever to find parking and I was about to give up when I found a great spot that was only about a 10 minute walk to where we wanted to be.

The girls did well considering the long wait, the heat, and the fact that I forget our water bottles in the car. We could hear (but not see) the music performances that were going on in the amphitheater, so the girls enjoyed singing along to all the patriotic songs they know.
When the fireworks show finally started, Lucy was not a fan of the loud sounds, but soon started to really enjoy it. I was really glad that I took the girls, I love fireworks shows so much and this one was fabulous. Not as patriotic feeling as watching them over VMI or on the US Capitol lawn, but still great. It's one of those things that as a parent are sometimes not easy to do, but the memory makes all the trouble worth it.

The finale.