You may be a bit confused by the topic of this post. I am fully aware that the Fourth of July was two weeks ago, but this post is about our family’s Fourth of July traditions and general lake life rather than decorating for the Fourth of July, so it’s not quite as time sensitive. This post also explains my relative absence this month, since we took nine days at the lake over the Fourth, and then I played catch up last week. So I’m getting a bit more personal and sharing a bit about our Fourth of July traditions.

Most of my favorite bloggers share bits and pieces of their personal lives, which is something I’ve struggled with, but I want to work on that… Plus, this is a good excuse for me to edit the family photos I took over the week! 😉

DISCLAIMER: This post will be very photo heavy.

Oddly enough, my side of our family has more traditions built around the Fourth of July than we do around Christmas. We typically go to the lake for both, but the for the last nine years, my sister Katie and her family (husband Jorgen, daughters McKenna-4 and Tenley-1), us and our family, and my parents have all taken 9-10 days together around Independence Day. Some of our Fourth of July traditions go way back, and some just started this year.

One of our longest standing Fourth of July traditions began when my parents bought their first lake home on the Whitefish Chain when I was nine years old. A huge fireworks display is set off from an Island on Cross Lake, one of the lakes on the chain, and we’ve gone out in the boat and watched them most years since I was nine. Some of my best memories are hanging out on the boat, eating Twizzlers and other junk food in anticipation of the fireworks beginning. This year, between kids needing to pee, a screaming one year old, and lots of snacking, I didn’t get many pictures, but I do have one blurry iphone pic of the kids with my dad.

And one more of Grandma and her girls!

Since the Cross Lake fireworks are always on a Saturday, one of our other Fourth of July traditions is setting off our own  fireworks in the yard on the actual Fourth. And when I say “we,” I mean Adam and my brother-in-law Jorgen. They are the official pyrotechnicians.

We also let the kids play with a few sparklers, giving me a fun opportunity to play around with longer camera exposure times.

Kaden clearly enjoyed the sparkler program. The girls weren’t quite as into it.

Because of a pesky medical situation, my dad unexpectedly needed to get into Mayo right away. He drove home for a few days over the week of the Fourth, so we did fireworks in the yard both the night before he left and on the actual Fourth, which means we had three firework displays!

An annual fishing contest is another of our fairly longstanding Fourth of July traditions. It began about five years ago, when Kaden was a preschooler, and he was the only non-adult participant.

My dad created different contest categories , such as catcher of the first fish, biggest fish, and most fish. Somehow that first year it was a clean sweep and Kaden won ALL of the categories. He has the trophies to prove it, also courtesy of my dad. First and only grandson for a man who has two daughters. Enough said. 😉

Last year, Arabella and McKenna joined in, and the results have become a bit more balanced, with each of the kids being awarded some sort of title. This year a neighbor boy joined in too.

This year, “Most Persistent Fisher” was added and went to my niece McKenna. Grandpa goes all out and orders trophies from a local trophy shop, then delivers them to the kids in person. Last year was the first year Arabella won a trophy, and it definitely increased her interest in the contest this year. She won “Most Fish” fair and square!

One of our newer Fourth of July traditions that started last year is decorating cupcakes. This is my mom’s domain, as neither Katie or I really bake. McKenna and my mom need to eat gluten-free, so mama makes the cupcakes, and the kids decorate them.

And EAT them.

Any excuse for sweets, right?!

Even the baby got in on the action…

The newest of our Fourth of July traditions was my mom’s brain child and began just this year… Our first annual Fourth of July Bike Parade! First, the kids decorated their bikes, with minor adult assistance.

Kaden also decorated himself, which started a trend. As you can see, he was very serious about his getup.

Once the bikes were decorated, we lined them up in order from biggest to smallest.

One of the little neighbor boys joined in too.

Then the kids lined up. My dad decided to push Tenley in the stroller so she could participate too.

Jorgen began blasting some patriotic music, like “Born in the USA” and “Living in America.” And then the bike parade began!

Dad stated later that we made a critical error when we let the biggest kid with the biggest bike tires set the pace. We may need to remedy that situation next year. 😉

Everyone enjoyed the bike parade, and it’s definitely getting added to the plethora of yearly Fourth of July traditions!

In addition to our Fourth of July traditions, there are a ton of lake activities we enjoy all summer long. Last fall, my parents purchased a new Mastercraft boat, and we’ve been having a ton of fun this summer figuring out how it works.

We’ve always enjoyed wakeboarding, but now with the new boat, we are all learning to wake surf too. Well, the adults, at least. We may get Kaden to try it before the summer is over!

My dad also bought a Zup board, which the kids have learned to kneeboard on. Kaden conquered it first.

Arabella was a little scared, and on her first attempt she leaned too far forward on the board and sunk it while the boat was in motion. She didn’t know to let go until I yelled at her that she should, and she started to submerge with the board. Needless to say, she was super hesitant to try it again, but Kaden jumped in the water with her and showed her how to do it. He even hung on the back while we pulled her around slowly.

Brother of the Year award!

Kaden helped McKenna learn the same way, and lost his swim trunks in the process! That boy is so patient beyond his years…

The kids really enjoy hanging out in the boat while the adults do water sports too.

Lake life includes a lot of hanging out on the dock listening to music, providing some relaxation for the parents. There are plenty of fun activities to keep the kids entertained too, from lake mats, giant blow up floaties, and a paddle board.

One of my favorite things about the lake is just slowing down and being with the people I love.

My sister is one of those people. This girl… She’s exactly three years younger than me, born on January 20, she is four inches taller than me, we are almost complete opposites, and she’s my best friend. Oh, and sometimes we like to wear matching headbands.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our family’s Fourth of July traditions and other ways we spend our summers at the lake! How about you? Is the Fourth of July a big deal to you, or do you have other summer traditions that are more important? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below!