Our 4th of July

For the 4th of July, we headed to Salina.  The morning started out nice and overcast and deliciously cool.  It was fantastic!  We went to the games and races and enjoyed the coolness of the morning together.  The kids loved playing all the silly carnival games, and Kelsey came home with two fish.  Emmitt and Kendal came home with various treasures as well, including some wickedly sweet sunglasses.

The 4th of July Races are what memories are made of for me.  When Matt and I were first married we both were rangeland firefighters for the USDA Forest Service.  I remember being on a fire 3 out of 5 of those 4th of July days back when I worked for the Forest Service.  If we were not fighting fire on the 4th of July, then we were at the Salina 4th of July celebrations, including the races.  I have a few memories of Matt and I running the 3 legged sack race and doing really really well!  We learned that slow and steady wins the race and we passed by all the other crumpled forms of couples that were just a little too quick and had crashed and burned!  The races are a fun fun tradition and our kids run in them as well.  The races start with babies that crawl and toddlers that fall, and move on up with each year in age.  Everyone wins a quarter at the finish line and it is quite the ordeal sometimes with a few different heats for each age division because so many people like to run, or have their kids run!
You can't really tell, but Kelsey and Emmitt are in this picture above getting ready to run to their dad, who is of course taking the picture.  What a fun tradition.  We haven't made it to Salina's 4th of July celebration in a few years, so it was nice to be able to go this year.

Then there is the parade.  Oh, good times at the parade.  It is a true small town affair and the kids usually walk away with way too much candy. This year they seemed to have way too many Otter Pops!

My 15 year old niece is very involved in sports and FFA in Salina.  She got to drive Matt and Mark's tractor in the parade that pulled the FFA float.  She is so darn cute and it is fun to see her involved in so many good things.  (Matt was on camera duty for the day.)  The kids loved the parade, the races, and of course the fun down time at their Grandma's house playing in the water with all their cousins.  Kenna did great with the heat, and I enjoyed catching up with my sister in laws as well.