firecracker, firecracker~ boom, boom, boom!

July 4, 2012- After a long day of parades, swimming and grilling we headed into Fredericksburg to see the fireworks.

{Not so} patiently waiting.

I always try to post the best pics of my boys with happy, smiling faces.  But sometimes they've just had enough of me with my camera lens pointing at them.  When that happens this is what I get~ from all 3 of them.  This means they are D~O~N~E.  And that is my signal to back off.

In what little spare time I have I've been trying to learn more about photography.  And while I'm getting more comfortable with some of the settings, photographing fireworks was a bit daunting.  I skimmed through an on-line article about it but wish I'd taken more time to read through a more detailed tutorial.  I just set it the best I could remember and hit the button and hoped something would turn out.  I got better pics than I ever have of fireworks, but still much to learn.

  

I think this one is my favorite.

Or maybe this one.

4th of july extravaganza

July 4, 2010- The children's parade in Fredericksburg was first on our agenda for July 4th.  Each year Casey tries to out do himself in building an entry for Pecos.  Remember the rocket horse last year?  This year it was a double challenge to try and figure out how to incorporate Brazos.  And of course if it doesn't involve a horse, saddle, rope or all three then Pecos just isn't that interested. So Casey spent all day and night working on this...

The quest for an award at the parade all started out 4 years ago when Pecos was not quite one year old and we decorated his stroller and went to the parade.  Pecos won the award for 'Mr. 4th of July'.  It was a much smaller parade then and not many "float" type entries; mostly bicycles, strollers, and wagons.  Now there are over 100 kids and all sorts of interesting entries.  And Casey's competitive spirit just won't let him simply decorate the wagon and have fun.

Last year Pecos won the award for 'funniest' and Casey thought that wasn't appropriate.  I on the other hand thought it was fine and Pecos of course was just happy to sit on the saddle of his rocket horse and enjoy himself.  Two years ago we skipped the parade because we were vacationing in Maine and I'm sure if we could have found a children's parade there he would have come up with something for it.

Casey was on a mission this year to win back the title of 'Mr. 4th of July'.  I'm not sure why he thought this particular idea would do it because I thought we'd be back in the running for funniest again.  The judges and Casey must have had the same idea because sure enough, Pecos won 'Mr. 4th of July'. 

Brazos should have received recognition for the youngest participant because there were certainly none younger.  However, you could hardly see him inside the covered wagon.  When I asked Casey why he didn't make the ends of the wagon a little more upright rather than angled out he said he just couldn't compromise the integrity of the wagon!  Would someone associated with this parade please encourage the organizers to either do away with the awards or give more of them- I'm not sure how many more years I can stand this!

Here's Mr. 4th of July getting ready for the parade and posing for about the 100th photo within 5 minutes. 

Following all that excitement we spent the afternoon at home and then headed back in to Fredericksburg to see the fireworks.  Brazos fell asleep before it all started so he missed out on his first fireworks display...maybe next year!

fun on the 4th

July 4, 2009- It was a marathon day full of fun. First up was the kid's parade around Marketplatz in Fredericksburg. Casey should win Father of the Year for the amazing rocket he built for Pecos' parade entry. Pecos was so proud of his rocket horse...just call him Space Cowboy. Pecos won the award for Most Humorous entry and he was by far the crowd favorite but there wasn't an award for that. Of course our opinion of his entry is just a little biased. I provided the pull power during the parade. Next up was stick horse races in Doss. Pecos has been practicing for several weeks now. Sometimes he practices with his buddy Jace but other times he practices alone. Like the day before the race when he was practicing in the house with his jockey goggles. We told him all race horse jockeys need to wear goggles in a race; he thought they should also be worn for this particular practice session.

At some point Casey decided to get in on the racing action. But he didn't have jockey goggles so his old chem lab turned power tool safety goggles had to do. Notice these two jockeys ready to run and gritting their teeth for the starting bell.

Once we got to the derby he realized the other jockeys would not be donning the eye gear so he let me hold them while he raced sans goggles. There were no other 2 year-olds at the races so Pecos went up against the big kids- 4, 5 and 6 year-olds- and had fun. I don't think he minded coming in third but he was a little upset that the big race we'd been talking about for days and practicing for was only one short sprint down the track. So we let him take a few solo sprints when the race track was cleared.Finally we made it home to grill some burgers and light a few fireworks. Pecos loved the roman candles and was so excited about his "firework chickens." But it was all over when we lit our final one and it made an awful shrieking and whistling sound. It hurt my ears too! So we called it quits for the day. Happy Birthday America!!