We had an eventful, yet relaxing, GORGEOUS and wonderful 4th of July! It was pretty much perfect.
The day started off with Jeremy and the big kids going to a pancake breakfast and flag raising ceremony at Bennett Park. Yummy pancakes. Beautiful weather. Playing at the park. It doesn't get much better than that. (Laura was asleep or else we would have all gone).
Next up we went the world renowned parade in downtown Liberty (haha). It is the smallest parade ever. But luckily our kids don't know any better, so they love it. It's not crowded so we got beautiful seats in the shade. It was short and sweet and the kids even got otter pops and candy. Happy day!
Then it was home to shuck and clean the corn on the cobb, slice up the watermelon, fold some laundry (what?!? chores on a holdiay? Meanest parents ever). Lunch. Quiet time.
After quiet time the weather was PERFECT for swimming. So we packed up everything that we own and headed to the pool. This was our FIRST pool outing of the year! Side note: It's pathetic that this was our first swim outing. I know! I have a pathological fear of taking my 4 non-swimmers "swimming" without enough helpers... it's this whole fear of someone drowning... so we have mostly played at the splash pads and in the sprinklers this year. I say all of this to explain what a big deal this was. The kids were SO excited!!!
Laura was asleep when we arrived which was nice, but I am so glad that she woke up! Because we finally got to put her in her adorable swim outfit (a hand-me-down from the Redd family - THANK YOU!). And she was just too cute! I wanted to eat her up. Luckily I got to take a million pictures of her because she is just the cutest thing ever!! And everyone at the pool got to admire her adorableness too. :) It was her first time in the water and she seemed to like it just fine. She had a great time swimming with daddy and being admired by everyone. Here she is:
After the pool fun we dried off, changed our clothes and headed to Brent & Michelle's house to play outside in the amazing July weather (high 70s with some cloud cover and a light breeze - it was beautiful!) and barbecue. Dinner was yummy and the kids were happy for hours jumping in the trampoline, playing with water balloons, playing duck duck goose, and just being kids with their cousins and some friends. The moms chatted and the dads even got a chance to play a game of bocci ball. After root beer floats and picking up, it was time to head out to the driveway for fireworks!
Historically our kids aren't big fans of fireworks. Okay - they are all scared of them. :) But we decided to give it another try. We started with pop snappers and smoke bombs. Those were both big hits! Then we did some quiet bright ones and the kids loved it! I thought we were out of the woods this year. But then the loud ones started and the kids climbed on our laps, cried, and eventually ran inside. After a few moments of that we decided to pack up and head home. Luckily it was late and we had already had a TON of fun!!!
The magical ending of the night came when we were back home. The kids were all ready for bed and we went into Isaac and Elise's bedroom, turned off the lights, and opened up the blinds. There in the dark and safety of the room, snuggled up together, the kids watched the awesome firework show that someone in our neighborhood puts on. It's not overly impressive or anything - but for our kids it was perfect! As each firework went off the kids would point and laugh and smile and chatter with each other and say "more!". They loved it. They were warm and cozy and safe and free to enjoy the beautiful spectacle before them. We cuddled on the bed together there for a while (Elise and Jeremy even fell asleep!) and it was the end of a beautiful day. Happy 4th of July!!!!
