yes, for the fifth year in a row, odin starts his day by waking up, racing downstairs, donning his special birthday shirt and running outside to watch the fourth of july parade assemble in front of his grandparent’s house in the upper peninsula of michigan.
it’s quite a fun way to start your birthday year after year what with giant cows appearing across the streat and everybody recognizing that it’s your birthday, ’cause your shirt says so!
patriotic birthday cupcakes made with love by grandma.
odin inspects the first of what will presumably be the first of many birthday cards that play “chicken dance” song.
it ain’t a midwestern fourth of july parade without a tractor or two!
and it ain’t a midwestern fourth of july parade without an ATV convoy!
jesus! and a soldier! on a float!
the belly dancing troupe was a new and intriguing addition to the yooper parade 🙂
odin and his cousins, unaware that in about 1/40th of a second the girl up in the cab of the forestry equipment is going to blast them with a water gun.
i thought they retired smokey the bear?
if they did, he’s gone rogue and is still appearing in upper peninsula parades.
didja know that, thanks to their innate gentle disposition and intelligence, texas longhorns are are increasingly being trained as riding steers?
i didn’t!
phew. that was a long parade. time for some nourishment. and when you’re hanging out with yooper finns that means there’s probably some pannukakku sitting around.
in addition to cupcakes grandmas can make a pretty awesome cake!
yes, presents were opened with some frenzy.
odin enjoys his new roller blades ( we left his helmet and pads at home )!
after a parade and presents, what could be more fun than bouncy slides!
independence day birthdays certainly have their benefits 🙂
odin is running out of steam on this “best out of three” competition against his cousin on the inflatable obstacle-course-rock-climbing-slide thing.
but, hey, who really loses when the course ends with a giant slide?
even more competition with cousins on the elastic harness-that-holds-you-back-while-you-try-to-place-an-eraser-on-velcro-inflatable-thingy.
such a fun-filled day, can’t forget to actually sing “happy birthday”, blow out candles and eat some cake!
for the first time in 5 years, birthday fireworks were rained out!
the upside? we had the time to end odin’s 6th birthday with a father/son sauna.
as awesome as fireworks on your birthday can be, ending the day with a sauna is pretty awesome in its own way 🙂