Fourth of July 2014

It's Monday and I feel behind already!  I was so happy to check my blogging calendar and see that I had an easy post scheduled for today. I took most of the weekend off (from writing. commenting, and housekeeping) and, while I enjoyed the break, I feel ready to get back into the swing of things.

We had a wonderful 4th around here.  I worked half a day Thursday and then headed home to enjoy my three (and a half) day weekend.  Our original plans called for a baseball game Thursday night, but the game got rained out, so we had to go with plan B. Much to the delight of our children, Plan B was shopping at Target and purchasing The Lego Movie which none of us had seen.  It was a great movie and we all laughed quite a bit. I won't give away any spoilers, but I will say that Ken got some very meaningful looks thrown his way at the end of the movie.

Friday, the 4th started out with no plans and cranky kids, so I decided we should walk downtown to get out some energy and then come home for lunch and naps. We made it downtown in time to catch the reading of the Declaration of Independence.  Frances followed along in a little booklet someone had given her and I was impressed with all three attention spans. Benjamin wasn't quite ready for the musket shots at the end, but he didn't get upset.

We walked home and had some lunch and then I sent everyone (including myself) to bed for naps.  Thankfully everyone slept and I had a chance to read some more of a book too. 

We headed back downtown for the parade and watched a few people get pulled over for driving down blocked off roads (a thing I had just done...) The parade was fun and the kids racked up a ton of candy and flyers. 

After the parade, we put away our chairs and walked to the main part of downtown to see what was going on. The kids got to go in a bounce house and play and then we walked over to get some dinner. We set up our blanket and chairs in a firework viewing location and settled in to listen to some live music. I wish I had been able to get video of the kids dancing, but they always stop when I try. Suffice it to say there were a lot of arm-waving, foot-stomping, butt-shaking moves that I assume they learned from their father.  ;)

Henry made a new friend and the two of them chased each other around the parking lot, giggling madly.  I enjoyed people watching.  As it started to get dark the inevitable "is it time yet?" questions began.  Fireworks started at around 9:30 and they put on a good show. We snuggled on our blankets and enjoyed the light display and booms and crackles.

Walking back to the van was the same as usual when we're out late; my arms were full and the kids were dragging.  We had fun asking Benjamin silly questions on the five minute drive home so he wouldn't fall asleep. Once home, everyone donned pajamas and went to bed. It was a very satisfying family day.