Independence Day weekend

Wow what an amazing weekend! We joined in with gusto into the 4th of July celebrations. (It is sort of strange for me being both Australian and British to be celebrating but two of my children are American!)

On Sunday we headed over to the Wall residence for swimming, hamburgers & hot dogs, and fireworks. The kids had a blast swimming and playing. For dessert we made mini pavlovas decorated in the patriotic red and blue (raspberries and blueberries).

Felicity dressed up in a red, white and blue onesie with red hair clips and red mary jane socks.





















When night fell the guys started the firework display. Lucy was ecstatic and shouted 'more fireworks' between each one. Henry on the other hand screamed his lungs out in fear with the first one and ran inside. He refused to watch any more and the poor boys heart was racing for quite some time afterwards. We got home late and put the kids to bed at 10pm.





















On Monday we drove an hour west to Lake Waccamaw to celebrate with the McNeill family (our Wilmington neighbour). There were 400 people there! The ceremony on their dock (partly pictured above) included a flag parade (Lucy, Henry and Andrew carried the Australian flag), the Wilmington Police pipe band, prayer, the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the pledge of allegiance and the singing of the Star Spangled banner.




















Then there was a 21 gun salute and everyone rushed off the two storey dock to the house for a hotdog feast [For my Aussie friends lunch included hotdogs in buns, coleslaw, baked beans, brownies and cake]

I have never seen so many people dressed in red, white and blue Americana in one place! It was amazing. We blended right in with our Aussie apparel until someone read Henry's t shirt and asked why he was wearing an Australian t shirt (which became obvious when we started talking).




















Felicity was a star in her own right with many people talking to her and photographing her. She dressed in a gorgeous watermelon dress, just like her big sister, and gave lots of smiles.















After lunch the kids got changed into their swimming costumes/bathing suits and enjoyed the lake. Then they enjoyed long naps in the car on the way home!