Anna had graduated from OU and was having a small graduation party when
the 'lil ones' decided to ham it up. Cora is a hugger, and Coulter is a
kisser, so the two kept trying to kiss or hug each other for quite
sometime. 
Grandpa finally grabbed his camera and caught one of the goodbye hugs--though the whole thing was pretty funny.
After fireworks Tuesday night, and a parade in the morning, we opted for the low-key and close-to-home Ashville festival for the afternoon on the 4th. We spotted these great cars right when we walked in. Before we got there, we hit up the ferris wheel--where Amara and daddy rode (Cora wanted to, but she was too small), then over to the balloon game, where Amara burst 3 balloons with 3 darts, right out of the box! I couldn't believe it~!
We finally made it over to the rides, and the girls LOVED riding in the cars together. Amara rode the scrambler by herself next, again, Cora was too short...
But she fit in these trucks they rode together and that was great. One more ride on the cars again, where Amara picked a motorcycle and Cora, the silver car with another little girl next to her. 
Since it was STILL in the mid-90s at 5 pm, were were all getting wilted by the heat, so we grabbed some fresh squeezed lemonade and headed for the car. Such a cute little festival--we parked about 50 yards from the entrance and never waited more than a minute or two--though, I'm betting the heat had a little to do with the low attendance. 
The Arlington parade was the earliest one we could find on the 4th, so we decided to give it a try. We scouted the route and found a side street to park on and a nice curb to set up our spot. We hadn't been there a few minutes before none other than Dr. DiCarlo came over to us! Of all parades, we had picked a spot right near his family--he was very happy to see all of us ;)
Cora kept daddy busy running back and forth across Northwest before the parade started, she was bored sitting, and needed to log some miles apparently. 
It was getting warm fast, even in the relative shade at 9 am, but there was a family handing out popsicles! it was so great! The girls ate as much as they could, before they started to melt like crazy (and I have some SERIOUS laundry to do).
Once the parade got started, the entries were holding the girls attention a little better, but we still had to hold on to our little runaway! Especially when there were breaks in the action ;)
Unfortunately, we found out too late, that Arlington decided to go "candy-free" the year before, so using candy as an incentive wasn't well planned. Amara wasn't thrilled, but I think it was more the heat and no breeze, and tired from fireworks the night before that were all coming into play.
Right on que, Cora would clap wildly whenever the crowd did, for the parade, and sometimes just when she felt like it--her clapping is SO cute!
There were lots of great things in the parade. We saw several bands, dance troops, a gymnastics group, some giant black Clydesdales, that Amara kept insisting on petting, and many, MANY old cars.
This guy was a favorite of daddy's too--one big tire all around him! We had a great time, but left before it was over, we got back to the car for some drinks, A/C and breakfast on the way home. We all got home and cooled off, so we could take naps and rest before a busy hot afternoon ahead.
July 3rd is always red, white and boom in Columbus. I went a few times as a kid, but it's been YEARS :) We had decided it was too hot and Cora was too young, but I thought I might take Amara down to see the fireworks and see what she'd think...it was an adventure :)
She and I drove downtown and scouted areas in German village, Berliner park and at last on Harmon avenue. Because I didn't know what she'd think of it, I wanted a place we could park and get right in and out. We ended up parking with other families at Ashland Chemical, next to 71, closer than Berliner, and easy in and out. Some families were setting off the wish lanterns--but none of my cameras could really capture how cool they looked.
The police moved all the cars, and essentially exits along 315 were open--so we took 670 towards downtown, SLOWLY and it was perfect! She could hear, see, and even smell the fireworks!! I got off at 3rd, and we drove down past the convention center and got right downtown for the finale!~ (that part was REALLY loud)
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