Independence Day 2009

This is our newest yard guest. I had always wanted a ground hog to visit us. I love seeing them around but have never had an up-close view. I did not realize however that they loved to eat flowers....

This baby ground hog lives under our front porch. When we wake in the mornings he is usually in the front yard eating grass. Very cute!

Dallas and Lin-Ley planted a long planter of Impatiens. A few mornings later all of the flowers were gone. There was just a planter full of green stems remaining...

On the 4th of July we went to the parade as usual. Jordyn, Lin-Ley's preschool friend, and her parents met us there for the second year.


We arrived about 45 minutes prior to the start of the parade to make sure we had a good seat/location. Take a look at the couple sitting in front of the girls. They sat right in front of us just before the parade started!


















Tru was not very interested in the parade last year but this year he was totally in awe of the fire trucks.












One of the highlights of this parade is the "Precision Lawnchair Marching Dads". They stop along the parade route to perform their drill.










Here they are marching in formation.













And here is a clip of their performance:

















After lunch and nap time (have I mentioned I love nap time!) we went to the carnival at Ft. Meade. There was not much there but the kids jumped on the inflatables and managed to talk us into spending money on trinkets and games.





































Lin-Ley wanted to try to climb the rock wall. We waited in line for one hour! We were sure Lin-Ley would scale the wall with ease. She is fearless.
Well...















She got a little stuck at this point and was scared to go any further.

















While waiting at the rock wall the clock struck 5PM and Revelry began to play. Members of all of the uniformed services were there at the bottom of the parade flag pole to lower Old Glory. Once the music began all of the soldiers attending the carnival turned to face the flag and stood at attention. That was rather moving and brought a little more significance to the day.














































The kids also had their photos taken for their cover shot on the Ft. Meade Soundoff.