Spirit of America Celebration

Typically, our 4th of July is spent in Minot, ND visiting family and shooting off fireworks.  Due to the horrible flood covering the city, we postponed our trip and stayed close to home.  We were invited to a "Spirit of America" party in the afternoon.  It was a unique way to celebrate our country's independence.  As we arrived, each person was given an identity of one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.  Your job was to read up on your person and mingle with the others and find out about each other.  What a neat way to learn about the signers! There was a brief program with tidbits of information about our history followed by learning/activity stations for the children.  Then there was some game time with potato sack and 3-legged races.  At the end, we all came together to "debrief" a bit and share anything that we'd learned. 

Craft time was led by Martha Washington.

A chance to talk about and play games that children would have played during the Revolution.

Story time.

Joseph (left) and Madeline (right) competing at the potato sack race.

I love my Haley's outgoing personality!  She didn't have a partner for the 3 legged race, so she walks up to some adult she's never met before and says, "Would you please be my partner?"  They went on to win the race.  That's Todd and Madeline coming in 2nd behind them.

And here is me sitting with Eleanor at the chicken coop.  She spent most of the time talking to and about the chickens and chasing the cats....ahhhh...life on a farm!

After a couple hours in the hot July sun, we headed home for some supper and air conditioning before heading off to our next event.  Some friends invited us to an event sponsored by their church.  It was a really neat carnival that the children had a blast at!  Afterwards, we got our blankets and lawn chairs set up to watch the fireworks display over the lake.  It would have been absolutely perfect, if not for all of the mosquitoes!  It's kind of a joke around here that the state bird is the mosquito.  They were out in full force last night.

All the bug spray in Minnesota wasn't even a deterrent.  So, today we're itching and scratching but the fireworks display was amazing!

Esther had the best time crawling in and out of the bounce house for little kids.

Lillian and Madeline buddied up and made the rounds.

Joseph and Haley taking a water break.

Eleanor fishing for a prize.

Mom and Madeline waiting for the fireworks show to begin.

It was a good half hour to get out of the parking lot and onto the highway to get home.  The kids were pooped and were asleep almost instantly - gotta love that!  We had a great day with family and friends remembering what the 4th of July means mixed with a whole lot of fun.  You couldn't ask for much more than that!

God Bless!

Heather :-)