Happy Fourth of July

Today we headed to Moberly to celebrate the Fourth with my parents. The girls went the night before and spent the night so that we could get some projects done around the house. My parents took Gracie and Ella to a parade that morning before we got there, and Mom got some cute pictures.

After we got to Moberly, we headed out to a fireworks stand to buy a few sparklers and cute little items that Gracie would enjoy. It took a little nudging to get her to hold a sparkler, but after Gracie realized they were safe, she wanted to keep doing them.

Meanwhile, Ella cowered in fear. She didn't enjoy any of the fireworks we had, and literally shook from fear during some of them. Ella didn't have to endure much, because Nana and Brent took shifts with her inside.

Yet another moment of fear!

This is as close as Ella got to a sparkler, and she cried and had her fingers in her mouth the whole time.

Gracie was even scared of a few of the fireworks, so she had to get on Grandpa's lap. She enjoyed them from a safe distance!

The real entertainment for the evening came from Gracie. She put the straps from the parachute we had been playing with on her arms and ran around the yard pretending she was a bride. Her bridal gown was very colorful. Grandpa was her prince for the evening. Nana had to officiate the ceremony, and this picture shows the happy couple prancing off into the sunset.

I redesigned her gown at one point, so that it was more of a mermaid style. Very flattering!

Somehow I had the great idea to wear the parachute and try to run around the yard fast enough to make the parachute fly up into the air, kind of like a kite. I don't really think it worked, but gave us some laughs as I tried.