The 4th of July has long been an outstanding family tradition at my parents' house.
Here's just a few reasons:
1. It's a very old tradition. We moved into the house when I was in 5th grade and the tradition was created because that house sits about halfway through the parade route. That would mean that we have been watching the parade and having a picnic there since 1988. (Wow. I justrealized -- that's 22 years!)
Here's the hazy view as we waited for it to start this morning.
2. It's created out of family both by blood and by choice. My brothers and I are there but it's also old friends who are family just the same. It just so happens that my best friend's parents and my parents are friends as well so they have always joined us for the day. Even though new people are always coming, this year's gathering was small and many people were missed.
3. Because of #2, when my best friend and I were in high school and had to march the parade, we would do the whole parade and THEN walk halfway back to the house. (Those memories aren't that fun!) We've also had (at times) as many band alumni in our front yard as were marching in the parade!
4. There has been, since about 1990 or so, a little one there to capture the excitement of the parade. Some years we have lined up 15 kids or so in the middle of the street for pictures. This year, there were only 2 -- Lily and Charlie. Showing the difference between boys and girls, as the fire trucks went by Lily (with earplugs in) went running for the house to get away from the noise. Charlie, in full excitement mode, wouldn't even let mom cover his ears!
5. There's always one thing thrown from the floats that wins the day. Candy is omnipresent (as are the races to get it off the street!) but this year the winner came from the Little Tykes float in the form of a teddy bear that made a little girl's morning!
6. After the parade, the picnic commences and much food and fun is to be had by all...at least until naptime!
7. My dad's yard is, as it was put today, better than a lot of parks. There's usually something really cool happening too. One year, it was a baby hawk. This year it was cactus flowers 
and twin fawns.
I scared off the fawns before I could snap a pic of both together...but I still managed to capture one Bambi.
The day is tiring but in a very fulfilling way.
Good food, good friends, good times.
This little sock was came into being in just a matter or 3 days. It flew off the needles but sadly, it's mate is not so lucky. That one is mostly done but is struggling through the leg. (It may be because it's been very summer-y outside :) )
I was going to put my rose back here but I decided that there just is not enough sun for a rose to do its best. So I enlarged it -- just a little and have decided to make it a bed of color and cut flowers.
My old one doesn't match!
We left her in the capable hands of the 19 and 6 year olds! 
Looks sorta like spaghetti, no?
I tried a combination of dip-dying and what I guess is called the hot-pour method. When I was about halfway through the yarn in the dip dying fashion, I poured more dye over what was still heating in the crockpot to achieve a really strong kettle dye effect. Hard to tell in this pic tho.
it's extremely fast and she 
A year ago she wanted handmade socks so badly that she wanted to pay someone to make them for her. Now, she's come a little further to the dark side and will be making socks forever.
It was a little rough around the heel of the second sock. I SO wanted to put them down and work on something else for a long while. But I persevered and once I got on the leg it was easy sailing.
......I grabbed and ran. My friends and I laughed all the way to the car!!! I now have this as an entryway (see how perfect it fits? Although, I will have to clean and febreeze it!).
