Happy 27th of June, America!

I'm not sure why the city of Rocklin decided to have their huge "Celebrate America" festival on June 27th since July 4th is also on a Saturday, but I'm not going to argue with it. I had seen signs advertising the celebration posted on a lot of front yards and local businesses, and I thought that it would be some great free family fun for us to check out. I asked the boys if they wanted to go see "big fireworks in the sky" since they have never seen them before, and of course, they were really excited about going. When I posed that question a couple of days ago, little did I know that the forecast was calling for 103 degree heat today (and 108 tomorrow - ack!). It most definitely hit that mark, if not well above.



We got there around 7:00 and decided to check out the food vendor tents. We bought some gigantic cookies and lemonade and sat down to brave the heat under a tree for awhile.



Lots, and lots, and lots of lemonade. Luckily it came with free refills!



Did I mention that it was really, really hot?

Like, intensely hot?

The heat definitely had its benefits though - the boys were really patient and mellow as we waited for the sun to go down!

Right after this picture was taken, Sawyer turned around and said to us, "Maybe all the balloons are going to go up to space so they can go see the aliens." Mhmm, maybe.

I was smart enough to bring some glow necklaces from my stash of dollar store goodies that I keep hidden away for special occasions. It saved me a lot of cash and whining when the vendors walked around trying to sell the same necklaces for $5 each!

Finally, after LOTS of music from the choir, some preaching by the pastor of Sunset Christian Center (who hosted the whole celebration), some more music, a few patriotic reinactments, a moment of silence that went on for so long it got to the point of awkwardness, a speech from Tom McClintock, and some more music from the band...Let the fireworks show begin!!!

I had warned Sawyer that it was going to be loud, so he was well prepared. He seemed to like the fireworkds, but he still said that the finale was scary because it was really super loud. Surprisingly Sutton wasn't scared at all! He kept his hands pressed up to his ears until the show was all over, and then he clapped as hard as he could and kept asking me "Fireworks come back again?" When I asked him if he liked the fireworks he responded, "Mhmm yes, very much!" :)