Fun on the 4th

In line with our plans mentioned in my previous post. we spent our 4th of July in Yorktown! What a special privilege that was! Come to find out, the 4th of July celebration is the biggest event historic Yorktown hosts all year. It was a lot of fun and evoked a lot of pride in all who attended. Some people traveled in from all over the country to experience Independence Day where independence was won.

We arrived in the afternoon and headed straight for the kids' play area. Caroline got the chance to run, slide and jump while we waited for the parade to start. Yorktown has some very large, old trees that provided some great shade for us to picnic in. Then we lined up along Main Street for the parade, which featured the Fifes and Drums and Uncle Sam dressed in overalls. Then we continued to stuff ourselves with hotdogs, popcorn and snowcones while we strolled the rest of the festivities.

We didn't originally plan to stay for the fireworks (since we didn't think the girls would last that long), but both Caroline and Claire seemed up to it, so we found a great spot at the Victory Monument where we camped out while waiting for the reading of the Constitution, the U.S. Air Force Band performance and finally the fireworks over the water. Well, just at the dramatic conclusion to the reading of the Constitution was drawing near, we received an announcement that the rest of the evening's festivities had been cancelled due to a storm headed directly for Yorktown.

Talk about a mass exit! Everyone had parked just beyond one of the British battlefields, which has a landscape of massive hills constructed by the British for defense in the Revolutionary War. Well, let's just say they worked really well. No one could get over or around them safely, so we all had to bottleneck through this tiny little trail in the rain. Once we found the van, the girls were a little damp (they had stroller hoods and an umbrella), but Dave and I looked like drowned rats. On our way home, we picked up a pizza for dinner, and once we reached the house, the girls were asleep. We ended up watching Colonial Williamsburg's fireworks from our house (they still finished their festivities despite the scarry weather). All in all, it was a great day!

Saturday, we took the girls to Chuck E. Cheese (or, as Dave would call it, "the home of the animatronic rat"). It was a lot more exciting for Claire now that she can walk, although Chucky's towering stance scared her a little.

Today (Sunday) we went to church and then Caroline and I went to the movies to see Kit Kittredge, an American Girl. Caroline loved it! She even cried during the sad parts. I thought it was a great film, and it teaches children all about giving to others.

I hope all of our friends and family had a wonderful weekend, too!