Happy Fourth of July!

This morning my daughter decided she wanted to wear her princess costume (no, I did NOT buy her that costume!!) and then go ride her bike. She looked adorable, especially with her cool sunglasses on, but she would not cooperate for a picture (go figure!) so this is the best one I got. What a character she is!

Both sets of grandparents came over and we headed to the parade. I love being able to walk to these kind of events - it makes it feel so small town. My girl was all situated and was waiting patiently for the parade to start. This picture made me smile because she has her sunglasses on her head (imitating her Dad - again!) and just the way she is sitting there - like she is so much older than her 3 1/2 years.

My baby and Hubby were enjoying a marching bad; my girl was worried about getting a piece of candy unwrapped. She did like watching the parade and waving at the people, until she realized there was candy being thrown out to the crowd. Then she was in her own little world.

Afterwards we went back to the house and cooked out - I made three items that I was pretty pleased with - a Stuffed Brie which was stuffed with sauteed mushrooms, onions and dates (yum!)

Old-Fashioned Potato Salad which was fantastic! I love potato salad and this one is the perfect verion of a "traditional" potato salad. My only complaint was I didn't cut up the potatoes prior to cooking to get them uniform in size; therefore, I ended up with about 25% al dente potatoes which ain't so great in potato salad. I also think the sweet pickle relish is key!

The last item I made was Ambrosia Salad. My daughter calls it like it is and calls it Marshmallow Salad. This stuff reminds me of when I was a kid - I can sit down and eat a whole bowl of it. I particularly like this recipe because it uses sour cream and not Cool Whip (ick). I like to use the fruity mini marshmallows for the extra zing and all the color.

I am so looking forward to having two more days off - that's my kind of holiday weekend! Hope everyone had a nice Fourth of July!