The Anderson Family Blog: The 4th!!!

The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday...next to Christmas of course. Quite a few people wonder why that is. Well, there are quite a few reasons. I grew up in a small town where everybody seems to know what everybody else is up to. Now as a kid I definitely did not appreciate the small town feel of Claremont, probably because I would get in trouble because somebody else would call my mom and say, "Do you know where Lauren is?" or "Do you know what Lauren did?" Gotta love the gossip of small towns. But now I appreciate the sense of community and people watching out for your family (still don't like the gossiping though). The sense of community you feel in Claremont on July 4th is heartwarming. My family could go down to the beach and watch fireworks over the ocean or go to the river and relax on the water, but instead we choose to spend the 4th in Claremont...and I couldn't imagine not being in Claremont for the 4th...EVER. Everyone is so friendly and you can't pass a stranger without them wishing you a Happy 4th of July. There is a fun day at the park for all of the kids with games, bouncers, face painting, wading pool, music and so much more. Then there is a parade where the kids decorate their bikes or wagons and kick off the parade, Bella has been in this parade every year and gets so excited to decorate her bike each year. There is a house decorating contest, because yes people in Claremont decorate for the 4th like it is Christmas. And why shouldn't they...we live in such a great country and I for one am so proud to be an American! After the parade it seems as though the whole town heads down to the colleges for a night of dancing to classic rock music and fireworks. So that is why I love the 4th....because my hometown celebrates the 4th of July to the fullest in an old fashioned kind of way and what a great way to celebrate our wonderful country...with a community that is just as proud of their country as I am.

Here are some pictures of our Amazing 4th. It seems to get better as Bella gets older.

She is such a ham.

Every 4th she just HAS to have a snow cone...and she takes about two bites of the ice sucks out all the juice and then she is OVER it!

She loves the wading pool, however this year it took her a god 30 minutes to get it...she had a slight attitude because she was tired.

But after a few minutes in the pool she was just fine.

I absolutely love this shot I took of my sister and Bella goofing around.

Waiting for the parade to begin...notice the decorated bike.

She was sooo excited to hear us call her name from the street. We were surprised she didn't crash since she was riding without training wheels. She rode the whole parade route and back without 1 crash.