The 4th of July started early. Around 4:30 a.m. mother nature put on a spectacular fireworks show — lighting up the sky with rapid-fire streaks of lightning and booming thunder. Carter climbed into our bed at some point.

We headed to the Ward picnic at 8:30 and enjoyed a yummy breakfast. Last minute, Raine remembered that they were having a bike parade, so we threw on some ribbon and tissue paper. Carter didn’t want to participate.

Raine and Cambrie

Carter tried to catch water balloons. Fortunately, he didn’t catch any!

Later that afternoon we packed up our towels and headed to Lake Lewisville. We had a picnic, then rented a boat to tube the lake.

Both kids wanted to ride with Mom first, to make sure it was okay.

Mom and Raine

Mom and Carter

Carter also wanted to give it a whirl with Dad.

Once they were comfortable, they both hopped on and spent the rest of the time on the tube.

Family selfie.

It was great weather to be out on the lake. The evening was more than warm enough to enjoy the water, but we didn’t feel like we were being baked alive under the sun. Here are a few other neat photos of the sky with the kids riding down below.

We headed for home about 8:00 and as soon as we pulled into the garage, Carter wanted to know why we didn’t see any fireworks. Raine has always hated fireworks and we were up so early in the morning that I didn’t feel like fighting the crowds in order to watch a fireworks show. Fortunately, Carter was easily pacified with the promise of our own party with glow-sticks, poppers (the only legal “fireworks” around here) and, most importantly, FatBoy ice cream sandwiches!

Mother nature started another impressive fireworks display shortly after mid-night. Needless to say, we all had a hard time waking up Tuesday morning!