4th of July Donkeys?

Flag eater?

Flag Waver!

The Stars & Stripes

Our friend's kids- Stewart, Eva, & Gloria- ready for the parade!

Joe enjoyed racing Lily over the cattle guards before the parade started!

Our little parade of kiddos (okay, adults too)!

The donkeys all dressed up for the parade!

My friend Sarah and I got a sweet ride during the parade!

Steve & Ben visit one of the mules

A donkey ride for Eva!

Lily's turn on the donkey!

Our picnic at the park (and Lily's ranch dressing mustache)

John & Kelly's little girl, Libby, playing at the park before the storms rolled in

I bet not many people had a 4th of July celebration involving donkeys. Well, we did! Mules too! Our friends Sarah & Steve invited us to a 4th of July brunch/celebration/parade at the home (estate) of their friends. We had so much fun! We started off the morning with a yummy brunch involving lots of fresh fruit and doughnuts (my personal favorite). Then after a short visit with the familie's donkeys and mules our hosts lead us through a reading of The Declaration of Independence (we all read out loud in unison). This may sound a little cheesy, but we loved it. Too often we forget why we really celebrate holidays so it was really nice to spend time remembering the real reason we celebrate the 4th of July. We were also entertained by a trombone rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and some incredible recitations by Sarah's kids. All of this was followed by our own little Independence Day parade! The kids all decorated their bikes (we decorated Lily's stroller) and the parade was led by the donkeys and mules (who were, themselves, dressed up for the holiday)! After the parade we ended the morning with donkey rides for the kids! How many other kids get to ride a donkey on the 4th of July?!

While our morning/afternoon was wonderful the rest of the day turned out to be kinda crummy. Our plans were to enjoy the evening with a fun park picnic with our friends John and Kelly. After loading up all of our goodies and dragging tons of stuff down to the park (mostly by bike) Joe started to feel really sick. He ended up going back to our apartment to lay down before he even had dinner. Not long after the storm began to move in. The rest of us did manage to eat at the park, but then quickly had to pack up all of our stuff and hussle it home. So our lovely picnic was kind of a bust. Joe spent the rest of the night (and much of the next day) in bed and resting. Lily and I did get to go down to the park and enjoy some really wonderful fireworks. Lily LOVED them! You should have seen her eyes light up. And she just kept saying every couple of minutes, "That one was my favorite!" She later told Joe that she really liked the red and purple ones. All in all a pretty fun and unique 4th of July! Hope yours was too (even if you didn't have donkeys)!