4th of JULY

I got this wild idea that I wanted to host a neighborhood pancake breakfast. I convinced my neighbor to co-host and then I went on with the invitations. I made a cute little flyer and walked around to every house on our street, knocking on the doors and talking to about 1/2 of the people I really hadn't talked to at all. Most people seemed interested, others were "busy". The night before Ben was really concerned... "How many people are going to be here in the morning?" I actually had no clue. There could potentially be over 200 people. I had invited everyone but I really didn't know if they were going to be there or not. The funny thing was this: we were moving the next week! It was so fun to get everyone out there eating red, white, and blue pancakes, the neighbors brought fruit or breakfast meat... OH the breakfast tacos were so good! The morning was perfect and so nice to get to know some of our neighbors better! ***(better for the next week)***

I also told the kids we would have a bike rodeo and a 3 loop run. They got so excited and raced around the loop as fast as they could go. For the run Connor was out there like a champion- pumping his arms and making it the whole way with cheerleaders (young and old)

 We had everyone lined up and kept telling the kids "This is not a race" and Alejandro said "Pftt.. YEAH RIGHT! This IS a race!!" HE is funny and loud and made the delicious tacos and hot sauce.

It was a great morning and a fun time. WE loved this neighborhood and the safe place for our kids to run with their friends at the playgrounds and riding their bikes around the loop. So happy I have such great co-hosts and fun neighbors. We actually noticed a big difference after this morning. Not that people were rude before, just that we were busy with our lives and talking to the neighbors was few and far between. This morning seemed to "break the ice" and we had so many more chances to talk and share time with our community. These pictures all bring smiles to our faces, full of the memories of that morning. HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA! We salute you!