Fourth of July. . .

I started off the Fourth of July by running in the Firecracker Run down in East Moline. My friend Courtney and I had signed up for the race just a few weeks before and I was excited to compete again. I ran the 5K and she did the 10K. The runners were so excited and cheery. I love the running culture. There were over 3,000 runners that morning. It was packed!! The course was fast and flat and I almost had my fastest 5K ever. Almost. I was pretty proud of that considering I hadn't really been training for all that long. Courtney had an awesome 10K and I cheered her on at the finish. We left right after the races and I got home in time to shower and get ready for the parade. We had invited two Brazilian families to join us for the parade. We wanted to share a bit of our culture with them and what better way to do that than to share the Fourth?? 

I loved that the Brazilians were so excited to celebrate our day of freedom! Valentina was all decked out in red, white and blue and was cheering for the American flag!

Murilo had only been in the U.S. for a week, so he was a little overwhelmed and excited about the parade. I'm pretty sure he'll learn English in no time, but that day was probably a little confusing to him!

Emma and two of her Brazilian friends, Valentina and Murilo

Go Deere!! This tractor reminds me of my dad mowing our pasture when I was little. The "G John Johnny Popper" was what I called his tractor. It's always fun to see these old ones at parades!

After the parade we went home for lunch and naps and then headed out again for the festivities down on Spruce Hills Drive. We opted to ride our bikes and put the girls in the carrier so we wouldn't have to find a parking space or drive home later that night.

It doesn't take long for Adri to decide she doesn't like pictures.

After the festivities down on Spruce Hills, we rode our bikes over to our church for more fun. The kids played on bounce houses and water slides while the adults just enjoyed the warm evening. We had invited the Brazilians to join us so we had fun catching up with them and sharing another American tradition with them. . . the fireworks show! I enjoyed getting to know more people from our church that evening. I've been impressed with how they try to reach out and just meet people where they are in life.

We had great seats for the show. Adri sat with me while Emma played with her friends. When the show was over, we packed up our things and hopped on our bikes to ride the two miles home. While others sat in traffic that was backed up on every street around, we maneuvered in and out of the vehicles until we hit the main road that took us to our house. We were so grateful to have the girls in the bike carrier and not have to wait for the traffic. We made it home in less than ten minutes and both girls were sound asleep shortly after.

Due to the late night, everyone was tired the next afternoon! I love watching these two nap together. We all rested and then headed out to a wedding later that evening.