Train potty

The 4th of July.

Probably my favorite day of the year. 

I love everything about Independence Day. 

What it means and especially the traditions that go along with it.

Here is a snapshot of our 4th.

We started off at our friend's annual French Toast Breakfast

 The first year we went, I was pregnant with Claire!

 Luke's first 4th of July!

 Then we walked down to the parade to meet up with friends!

Gotta love a small town parade. Americana at it's best.

 Then we headed back to our house for our annual 4th of July Pool Party & Sausage Fest.

 I am a little obssessed with decorating my yard & house with flags for the party :)

 My BFF since 5th grade was in town with her hubby & 2 boys and we were SO happy they were able to come to the party! I can't believe I didn't get a pic of us. FAIL!

 It was day 7 of our 100+ degree heat wave, so kids swam & swam!

It was actually SO hot & the kids were all zapped from the parade earlier that we turned on the Lorax in our family room & most of the kids watched it inside for an hour or so to get out of the sun for a bit. 7 days of triple digit heat wears out us wimpy Californians :)

7 layer Dip:

Corn Dip & Veggies

Red, White & Blue Fishies:

Festive Napkins & Plates:

 The Dinner Table:

The reason we call it the Sausage Fest is because my dad, Jimmy is the Sausage King and for the past 20+ years, we have had a Sausage Fest on 4th of July.

This year's sausage:

 

And, hot dogs for the kids!

 We also had Tri Tip:   

 We are not vegetarians in this family :)

But, we did have a bunch of wonderful salads to go with our meat:

 My Strawberry Spinach Salad:

 Potato Salad:

 Quinoa Salad:

 And, of course....desserts!

 You know me, I love a dessert table :)

 USA Cookies:

 Red Velvet Cupcakes:

  Dipped Strawberries:

 And, of course...Jimmy's Homemade Ice Cream.

This year he made 4 flavors:

Oreo

 Peanut Butter Cup

 Coconut Banana and Blueberry:

We finished off the night with a couple sparklers: