July 4th .... finally

Keira knows the pledge of allegiance by heart.

She knows that the fourth of July is all about the red ... white ... and blue.

It's also about ...

parades where candy flies freely ... playing with cousins ... 

swimming ... eating junk.  all.  day.  long.

She knows all about Cowan lake

and uncle Billy & Aunt May's farm.  

Yep ... it's right up there with Christmas for us. 

My country tis of thee ...

sweet land of liberty.

Fin on the other hand ... 

he just knows that if he runs fast enough, 

he can stay a couple steps ahead of mom or dad.

There is that point though ...

... where he finally passes out and then we all get a break.

All the Carey siblings made it this year!

Aunt Judy from New York ...

Uncle Charles from Arkansas.

What a FUN group.  

Throw in a pontoon boat and Montgomery Inn the next day and you

never know what might happen.  

Thanks again Randy for the wine ..

and Tom for being the "Fin whisperer".

Clarksville is a tiny farming community very near Wilmington and Sasha's house.

They have a charming July 4th parade every year.  

Kids on decorated bicycles ..

emergency vehicles with flags and horns blaring ..

GIGANTIC farm equipment showering us with candy.

It's enough excitement for my all American princess to explode!

But then we saw pony rides ....

the rest of that is history.

She's going to name the pony C.C. get's her 

(when she's 5)

Strawberry Shortcake.

You started it Cindy.

In the late afternoon and evening we headed out to the McCoy's farm.

We got to witness Michael's mad kayak skills.

Fin absolutely can NOT stay away from this ATV.

Cameron took him for a ride ...

still wearing a hat.

(Cameron ... not Fin)

The Romance's were all there.

How great to see how much Patrick and Emily have grown..

to congratulate Gilbert on soon being a big brother.

Thanks to Aunt Pat, I now have to have an IPad 

of my very own. 

The boys do fireworks over the pond every year. 

The kids anxiously await this all day long.

According to these faces ... it's worth the wait.

Even Fin enjoyed the fireworks ...

Of course ... that boy enjoys anything 

from his daddy's lap.

Our 4th was all we imagined it would be.  

The only thing missing was my family in Florida ..

and we did miss them.

I am thankful for our freedom to celebrate.

I am thankful for these traditions and memories.

Memories for me and Shawn ... 

memories my kids will always have.

I am most thankful for the people who are a part of these memories.

The people who define the word ... family.

There were tons of pictures.  I know many of you wanted copies.

We've uploaded the best to our family photo site.

You can click on the link below to see them.

You can also download them to have for prints etc...

Carey/McCoy July 4th

In order to download in individual picture, double click the picture (to make it bigger).  

Double click on the icon that looks like an arrow pointing downward.