July 4th, 2017

Happy Independence Day!! 🇺🇸

Today we started off our festivities nice and early. Mike, Charlotte, Laura, and I headed to downtown Wheaton for their Fourth of July parade. We arrived early and found a nice shady spot to sit. We were all starving, so we walked down the street to grab some coffee and bagels. Once we were all fed, we hurried back to our spot and waited for the parade to start. The parade itself was so cute. They had a bunch of floats! So many sports teams, organizations, clubs, etc were there! They had bagpipes and motorcycles and cheerleaders and more. They were a little skimpy on the handouts (candy, t-shirts, etc), but it was still a good parade. Moreso, I just enjoyed my time with those three. :)

After the parade we headed back to the Donelson's house for lunch. We had hot dogs and hamburgers, plus veggies and fruits. It was delicious. After food, we hurried upstairs to the music room because: Char's pickup had finally arrived! :D We bought her a Barcus Berry 3100 clamp-on bridge Prezo pickup...only the best for Char. ;) We hooked it up to her violin and she began playing. I was thrilled to see that it worked perfectly and that she absolutely adored it! She thanked us both like fifty times. :)

Laura was sleepy after our early morning, and Rach had to put Peter down, so Char, Mike, and I headed out while the rest of the group napped. Despite how unbelievably hot it was, we decided to go mini golfing at Wilderness Falls. We were worried it would be crowded, but we hardly had to wait around at all! It was a close game, but ultimately Charlotte ended up with the win. :)

When we returned to the house, everyone was awake and ready to play some games! First, we split into two teams and played some Pictionary. Mike, Char, and I ended up beating Chris, Rach, and Laura by a few spaces! After that, we played some Scattergories...which I won. :) We ended things with Catchphrase—me, Rach, and Char vs. Mike, Chris, and Laura. It was so much fun and there were tons of laughs...and of course, the competitiveness was high. ;) I was so glad we all were able to come together and play!

Once we had finished, it was time to head to the Bolingbrook Gold Course for the fireworks! We drove separate than the Marsceau's, and thankfully we found a parking space that wasn't too far of a walk! We met up with the Hanny's, who had a nice spot away from the chaotic crowds. I was super excited because Luke is home for two weeks! He was there with his girlfriend Nicole, and naturally Mike and I greeted him with huge hugs. :)

     

     

Mike, Luke, Nicole, and I ended up walking across the course to go get funnel cakes and fries for everyone. It was totaly nuts—kids were running around crazy and people weren't watching where they were going. And yet somehow we managed to get all the snacks and return in one piece!

The fireworks show was stunning. It was definitely my favorite of the three we saw throughout the weekend. We had the perfect spot. The fireworks were practically right over our head! They were so HUGE! Beautiful display. Seriously. I loved it. It was the perfect end to a perfect day.