Canada Day Craziness

In past years, Canada Day has gotten a little lost in the shuffle of the 4th of July. Not this time.
Teagan and I dressed in our finest red & white and celebrated Canada Day at church...singing 'America The Beautiful'.

We were sure to fly the flag we borrowed from some fellow Canadians, a nd when it wasn't flying, it was keeping us warm, cozy and patriotic.

Teagan had it wrapped around her for the better part of the day. It was a little adorable.

Then when the Lady Gaga impressions came out, it became less adorable and more creepy.

I don't know if I've mentioned yet that we LOVE our ward. There are so many reasons, but one of them happens to be the fact that there is a calendar with a kid-oriented activity to do every single day of the summer (save for Sundays, of course). Hikes, movies, swimming, crafts - you name it, it's on there. July 2nd needed to be filled, and being the day after Canada Day, I offered to host a Canada Day Party, complete with party games, cake and crafts. 

We played Duck, Duck Moose.

Teagan thought she knew how to play. Apparently I didn't explain the rules well enough.

We made firework paintings by either rolling paint-covered marbles around in a box or blowing paint through a straw - they all turned out really cool.

We made paper bag beaver puppets. Brandon fancied himself Mel Gibson later on. (In case you missed it, he made a movie with a beaver puppet. I didn't see it and I don't think anyone else did, either.)

We had red & white treats, featuring mostly junk food, but there were some strawberries and red peppers thrown in with the Redvines, Hot Tamales and Hawaiian Punch...which I ended up wearing. I tried to get a picture of me with the cake I've been psyching myself up for years to make. I finally did it, but when I tried to pose with it to prove I made it and didn't just pull a photo off the internet, the strawberries did a sad little slide, ruining the effect. Although a Pinterest picture would have been much prettier, I opted for honesty - so here it is.

I dispelled some myths about Canada, like informing everyone that it isn't always cold. But undid that positive PR when I had the kids dress up in hats, gloves, scarves and winter coats and pose for a photo in front of the Canadian flag. They seemed to have fun doing it, though. It got a little crazy (in a good way) and it wasn't exactly a break for any of the moms, but it was great to see my house filled with fun. We get lonely when it's just the two of us.

I left the flag up for a day or two, taking it down in plenty of time for Independence Day and Teagan had fun letting her Canadian side run wild. 

Have you embraced YOUR heritage today?