4th of July in Arizona

Because the baby could be born any day, we were stuck in Arizona for the 4th of July. 4th of July weekend was really hot down here and when I say really hot, I mean around 110 F give or take a few degrees.

We started celebrating July 3rd. In the Anderson Family tradition, we had Kentucky Fried Chicken and watched a patriotic movie in the afternoon.

Then, because it is so hot here, they don't have parades for the 4th of July. They did, however, have a street fair that we went to on the night of July 3rd. It turned out to be a really fun free event. The first area we went to was called the wet zone. There were a bunch of inflatable slides and stuff that were wet. We let the kids play in the water in their clothes because it was so hot that we figured they would dry soon and it would keep them from overheating. Of course, the first thing that the kids did was climb to the top of the slide and then stop and refuse to slide down. We were trying to convince them to slide and the kids behind them were yelling at them. Sterling finally slid and Avalon came back down the stairs. After that, we only let them do the giant slip' n slide. After that we wandered into a booth that had tropical birds the kids could hold and pet. Sterling loved it. Avalon didn't trust the birds. Then the kids got to climb into an old fire truck. Sterling found a monster truck that he fell in love with, too.

There was an area that had inflatables that looked like famous buildings from the founding of the country.

They also had this giant statue that I thought was cool.

The last section that we visited was the family fun zone which was an area that was set up like a country fair. There were a bunch of games like ring toss, bowling and other carnival games that the kids could do for free and then they won a toy each time.

We didn't get to stay very long, but we definitely recommend it to anyone looking for something to do for the 4th. It was fun and free.

On the 4th of July, we had my sister Halee and her family over for dinner. We grilled a bunch of sausages and hot dogs and had a fun little party. After dinner, the kids went out onto the street and played with fireworks. Because of the risk of fire in Arizona, most fireworks are illegal except for pop its and the kind that you pull the string on and confetti sprays out. The kids went through some of the confetti ones and 800 pop its. After the kids played with fireworks, we went to see a local fireworks show. Sterling and Avalon were so excited that they could hardly handle it. Avalon kept going over to her cousin Paul saying "fireworks" or "fireworks, Paul". the fireworks were good, but Halee and I both agreed that they needed to be set to music like in Idaho Falls. Overall, it was a great 4th of July weekend.