Independence Day & Tyler's U.S. Coast Guard Celebration

My cousin, Tyler, graduated high school in June and joined the U.S. Coast Guard. His swear in date and leave date was right after 4^th of July, so we combined my grandparent’s annual 4^th of July BBQ with a “bon voyage” celebration for him. My assignment: a banner and I already had planned to make cupcakes for the party.

I went with the typical red white and blue colors to incorporate both aspects: the holiday at hand and the patriotism for the military. I knew that I wanted something related to his branch, but wasn’t sure how best to incorporate that aspect. After checking out Pinterest and finding basically nothing except an anchor, I chose to center my verbiage on that picture.  Anchors Away Tyler. I altered the red and blue colors for the base piece and cut white circles to paste on top of each. I really think the banner turned out great. Unfortunately the placement create a lighting issue for a picture, so bear with me….

For the cupcakes, I had already purchased a red, white and blue confetti style cupcake kit. Since Tyler’s mom had already ordered a cake, I only made 2 dozen cupcakes. I frosted them with white cream cheese and red sprinkles. I wrote one letter on each cupcake and spelled out “ Congrats Tyler, C.G. Bound”. They turned out festive and, of course, were yummy!

As tradition has dictated for the past 29 years (only missed maybe 3 or 4 times over the years due to travel), we headed down to Fairfield for the 4^th of July parade. Unfortunately, it was poorly laid out this year and so very boring L! Far too many gaps and really didn’t captivate the attention of the little kids too well. Jaxon did great for a bit and then he got bored so we headed home. We got some lunch and I put him down for a nap. Once he woke up, we headed to the grandparents. The party was well attended, as usual and we had a really nice time. We headed home late in the evening and got Jaxon to bed, skipping the fireworks again. Although, our neighborhood sure put on a show! Unfortunately, well into the early hours. I pulled Jaxon in our bed around 1130pm after he had been woken up several times and then he slept better. But the “show” didn’t stop til around 130 or 2am.

Here are a couple shots I took that day...I failed with the camera...

Overall, it was a great, family filled day. My cousin headed off to his swearing in ceremony that following Monday and is currently in the throes of basic training, joining a long line of military members in my family. I am one proud lady!

Hope everyone had a fantastic 4^th of July (I do realize it was more than a month ago…)

Xoxo -Lady Lewy