Fridays At 5:00: 5 Festive Family Favorites For The 4th

Yesterday on Instagram I asked what my community over there was doing to celebrate the holiday weekend. I really loved reading all about some of the things you guys have planned for the 4th of July this year. Some of you are heading to the beach and others to the lake. Some of you will be with extended family and others are planning a quiet weekend alone with your spouse. And some of you are planning to watch fireworks and others are planning to continue working! What ever your plans may be, I just wanted to take a moment and wish you all a very Happy Independence Day Weekend. I also wanted to take this time to share 5 of our family favorites for the 4th of July. Some of these are obvious – but I still wanted to share!

Eat All The Festive Foods

This may be the funniest part of any holiday, right? Just like I enjoy decorating for the holidays, I also like cooking for the holidays too. ‘Seasonal’ treats are always a hit around my home and I am sharing a few of my favorites below. I have to admit, this year we haven’t made as many of our favorite festive treats in the past because of the kitchen remodel that we are doing right now, but I am including 5 of our favorites over the past few years.

This Watermelon Salad.

This Patriotic Flag Bark.

This Flag Toast.

This American Flag Cheese Tray.

This Berry Crumble.

Wear All The Colors

Who else loves to play dress up? Only me? Even at 44 years old, I love to wear clothing that compliments the season that we are in or the holiday that we are celebrating. For the 4th of July dressing the part can be as simple as blue jean shorts and a white tee or you can go all out and wear your favorite stars and stripes print or pattern. Either way, I really enjoy showcasing the colors of our American Flag during the 4th!

Oh, and don’t forget the extra accessories like the red, white, and blue sunglasses and flag necklaces (the dollar tree is a great spot to pick those things up)

Listen To Patriotic Music

It should come as no surprise to you that I love to blast patriotic tunes this time of year – I am a music lover ya know! I have shared all about my musical past (see here to read all about it) and I love to share my favorite music choices with you here from time to time. With that in mind, I am sharing this Patriotic play list with you guys over on the Spotify app/page for those of you who follow me over there. I am adding a little playlist for you here below:

Not familiar with Spotify? No problem! I will link my top 5 choices right here below – just click the link to listen!

America The Beautiful – Ray Charles

Born In The U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen

God Bless The U.S.A. – Lee Greenwood

Battle Hymn Of The Republic – Andy Williams

The Stars And Stripes Forever – The United States Army Field Band and Soldiers’ Chorus

Add Even More Festive Touches

This is mainly for my kiddos. We love to add all the festive patriotic touches on the 4th. From extra streamers to balloons, the kids enjoy going all out. Many years we are at my parents beach house during the 4th (Click here to see their lovely beach house) and when we are there the kids will dress up the golf cart for the annual 4th of July parade! It is so much fun! It didn’t work out for us to go this year, but don’t worry – the kids still plan to do a little extra decorating!

Fireworks

Who doesn’t love a good fireworks show this time of year? We are fortunate that we are able to watch beautiful firework displays here at home in Georgia and at the beach house in Florida – so we get to take in a beautiful fireworks show no matter where we end up – but my we do shoot off fireworks here at our home as well.

I enjoy watching fireworks from a distance but if I am being honest they make me terribly nervous. I really do NOT enjoy being close to them. Now, I do love a good sparkler but anything bigger than that and I turn into a huge scaredy cat when I am close. This is where my husband takes over! He is the one that is all about the fireworks. Mark really enjoys them and he enjoys putting on a good show for the neighborhood from time to time. He is very careful and I trust him 100% but I have to admit, I am always happy when they are over!

P.S.

I found this YouTube video taken a few years ago – it is a Flash Mob with Denver Brass preforming an American favorite – and yes, it brought me to tears! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

P.P.S.

Here are a few more suggestions that I found for you guys over on the web! No matter what you are doing this weekend, I hope that you enjoy your 4th of July!