4th of July 2013

I realized I didn't have any 4th of July decorations, so I decided to remedy that!
I found a few cute decorations at Michaels and Texas Thrift.

I also made a tulle wreath as part of my Patriotic decorations.

I wanted to put red, silver and blue glittery stars on it, but never came across any.

So it was adorned with a star studded bow instead.

We celebrated a little early this year.

We went to Kaboom Town, which is held every year on July 3rd in Addison.

I went with my sister Trisha, my sister Katrina, her husband Robbie and the cute baby.

He's such a cute little smooch!

It was crowded and a bit crazy.

Thankfully, the weather was pleasant. Probably in the high 80's with a breeze.

If it was close to 100 or more, I don't think I would've wanted to go.

We walked around and checked out the different food vendors 

to see what they had to offer.

Plenty of fried foods...from mushrooms and pickles to Oreos and Snickers bars!

We found a nice spot and just sat around waiting for it to get dark,

so the fireworks extravaganza could finally begin.

There was a stunt plane show before the fireworks.

It was cool, but made us all a bit nervous.

The fireworks started just a little after 9:30pm.

They were supposed to be synchronized to music,

but we didn't hear the music where we were sitting.

Benjamin wasn't scared in the slightest!

He LOVED the fireworks!

We all took turns enjoying the fireworks display with him.

The crowd seemed to be awestruck whenever there were star-shaped fireworks.

I couldn't believe how excited they got over them!

Clearly the majority of this crowd has never been to Disneyland,

where they have stars, cubes, smiley faces, etc. in their spectacular show!

"WHOA!"

Getting out after the fireworks had ended was a bit of a challenge.

There was only one exit, about 15 feet wide, for thousands of people to get out of!

We weren't even that far from the exit and it was already crazy!

It was worse than leaving Disneyland after a parade ends!

Finally we made our way out and it was pretty much smooth sailing from there.

On the actual 4th of July, Trisha and I went out for a movie marathon.

I recently discovered that a nearby movie theater sells tickets at a lower price

than what we've been paying at the theaters we've been frequenting.

It's only $4.00 for movies before 4:00pm and $6.00 for movies after 4:00pm!

[And they're first-run movies, too!]

So we went and saw Monsters University again, this time in 3-D.

Unfortunately, we got to the theater a bit late 

and got there towards the end of the cute animated short.

[Which would have been really cool to see in 3-D!]

I loved the movie just as much the second time around 

and the 3-D really made the monster world POP!

I was trying to remember when the last time

I actually saw a movie in the theater more than once!

Pretty sure it's been a while...I'm guessing one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

After Monsters University, we had just enough time for a quick bathroom break

before heading into the next movie, The Lone Ranger.

It was better than I thought and there were a couple twists 

I thought were interesting.

And hey it has Johnny Depp in it...enough said!

As we were leaving the theater I spotted the Monsters cardboard cut out display

and decided I needed pictures with my favorite monsters!

We headed back home and relaxed for a bit before it was 

'Auntie Time with Benjamin.'

We were also able to hear and see a few fireworks from our balcony.

Grateful for the freedoms we have and for all those 

who serve and help protect our country.