Miss Independence

Does anyone else feel that the best part of holidays is dressing up your children?

No, that's just me?

With kids this cute you can't help but get excited over Americana fashions and photo shoots using mini American flags as props.

All cuteness aside (okay, not really...there is a lot more to be seen ahead), our Independence Day celebrations were a smashing success.

The babe experienced her first parade and fireworks show, we watched a movie and relaxed as a family of soon-to-be-four, and spent the evening eating, playing, and laughing with our Ohio family.

If Island Park just isn't a possibility then we certainly got the next best thing.

Enjoying a little pre-parade breakfast of champions...red, white, and blue inspired doughnuts.

Stella doesn't mess around when she eats.

A few folks we know who enjoyed the 1.5 hour political ad campaign/advertising extravaganza/parade:

For me the yummy food and memories made with friends and family far outweigh the fireworks in making this holiday so great, and this year was definitely no exception.

Yes, we realized how weird we were as we were taking these pictures and yet continued to do so for about 10 minutes too long.

Although the white picket fence behind us was pretty much the perfect touch to our All-American photo shoot.

The kids (both big and small) playing with the poppers

And the grand finale of our day: fireworks in the nighttime sky.

In summary, America totally rocks.

If you don't believe me, just ask this girl...