4th of July Festivites

This year we tried to take advantage of all the fun Freedom Festival activities for the fourth. Saturday night we did the traditional barbecue at Kiwanis Park with the Kemps then watched the fireworks from the Stadium of Fire. But, this year I actually planned ahead and made us some good food to take along. I made barbecued pulled pork in the crockpot. It cooked all day long and it was just perfect for sandwiches by evening. Then I made brownies with whipped cream on top and then blueberries and strawberries on top decorated to look like the flag--very festive. I was pretty impressed with myself. Britton and Haley loved the fireworks. I think this is the first year that Haley has actually paid attention to them. She was so cute. Everytime one went off she's say "there's a firework" then two seconds later "there's another firework" and she kept saying it each time throughout the night. It was hilarious. She just sat there staring, saying that, all throughout the whole firework show.
Monday morning we got up really early and went to the balloon festival. We got there just in time to see the majority of them fill up and then all of them take off. The kids loved it. I don't think they've ever seen hot air balloons before and especially not that close up. Jason kept talking to everyone trying to somehow get us a free ride, but with no luck. (Big surprise)
Tuesday we decided to brave the crowds and go to the parade. This year they had an aviation parade simultaneously. So, every few minutes a plane would fly along the parade route. That's really the only reason we went. They had a few impressive planes, but for the most part they were just the same kinds that Jason flies all the time. But, it was still fun and added some variety to the marching bands and politicians in fancy cars.
We ended our 4th of July festivities with cherry picking at my parents house. We had a whole assembly line going. There were some pickers, some washers/sorters, some pitters, and some baggers/driers. It was pretty amazing that we got the whole tree picked and most of them dried or bagged for freezing. We'll have to do the other pie cherry trees in a few weeks. Britton's favorite job was pitting the cherries. By the end of the day he was covered in splats of cherry juice. Luckily he took off his shirt before starting.