Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?
On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected, now shines on the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner: O, long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has wash'd out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.
O, thus be it ever when freemen shall stand,
Between their lov'd homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserv'd us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Since the Fourth fell on a Wednesday this was our "summer theme day" for the week. And what a THEME day it was!!! We started the morning with a bike parade. The kids were all dressed in red, white, and blue in honor of our flag. Even Cale plodded along on his trike.
We lost Riley for a while ... it was kind of scary. What was I going to tell the cops, "I'm missing my six year old."? When they asked for a description I would have said "He has a blond faux-hawk, a red, white and blue striped shirt, and is on a bike decorated for the Fourth of July." - That would have described about every six year old at the parade. Thankfully the kid was smart enough to go back to the start of the parade and just stay there. I was so happy to see him there and happier still that he knew to stay where he was.
Saluting the flag. Hats off and right hands on our hearts.
I even got into the spirit with fun hair decorations.
Teaching Cale to put his hand on his heart...He ended up putting his hand on Cyvanna's heart.
After the parade we hit the park with our cousins for free games and activities for the kids.
After the park we headed home and took naps. Then I got everything ready for our BBQ - which was really fun! We had lots of cousins and friends over to celebrate with our yummy treats.
Cake Balls!! The blue are chocolate cake and chocolate frosting, the white are lemon cake and frosting, the red are red velvet cake and cream cheese frosting. MHHH!!!
Patriotic bark - with red and blue M&M's and York bites.
The rice crispy treat "fireworks" - the kids thought these were great! I had fun making them.
Patriotic dipped pretzels.
Ribbon Jell-o: the kids didn't like the middle that had cool whip and cream cheese (which was MY favorite)
Cousins galore - it was a really fun afternoon.
We stayed up for fireworks. My sister brought glow bracelets and you would never have known that there were fire works going off. The kids LOVED them. They were better than sparklers because we didn't have to worry about the kids getting burned. After the show the kids were OUT like a light. It was a wonderful day to remember, reflect and rejoice for our freedom.
Happy 236th birthday AMERICA!
