Happy 4th of July!!!

Happy 4th of July everyone!!! Only mommy and daddy (and their friends) can make a one-day holiday last a week, but they did it :)

Last Saturday we spent the day with Uncle John and Aunt Margaret at their annual "Don't Swear in Front of the Baby" 4th of July Party. There was mounds of food, drink, lots of kids to play with and even a basement to hold a soccer game in - who could ask for more. Erin got the chance to make some new friends, mommy and daddy got some time with adults and Jeffrey discovered it was OK to nap if he wasn't at home.

On Tuesday we got together with more friends. Jason and Crystal (Uncle Jeff and Aunt Robyn's friends from Baltimore) just moved into the area. The local community holds a small-town parade on every 4th. So we all got together to watch the fire trucks, horses, beauty queens, girl scouts, tractors and antique cars parade through town. Erin, Juls and Kasia were truly excited when they learned that the marchers/drivers throw candy into the crowd. The kids spent most of the time running around picking up candy off the street. Crystal and I spent their time strongly cautioning the girls to NOT run into the street after the candy. The parade was about 15 minutes long and everyone headed over to the house for a cookout.


Now it was un the mid-90s on the 4th and mommy had gotten all kinds of outside toys to play with. Erin and Juls wanted to play outside and did for a while, but the mommies decided it was smarter and easier to keep the younger ones inside (as well as the excuse that they needed to stay inside with them). Tom and Jason stood and sweated around the smoker while Erin and Juls built sand sculptures and blew bubbles. Then everyone moved inside for a rousing game of Candy Land. The girls also all discovered Erin's room and all the fun than can be had throwing all the toys on the ground.

Mid-afternoon, 2 smoked chickens, 4 smoked potatoes and 4 exhausted children later Crystal and Jason headed home and Erin moved downstairs for the next showing of Wizard of Oz. Everyone stayed cool and sleepy until about 9:00. Then we decided to walk over to the lake for the annual fireworks. Word has it that much of our homeowner's fees goes right to the annual fireworks display over the lake (although our road is in desperate need of some repairs). So we headed over to the beach with the kids - glow sticks in hand. Jeffrey ran around until it got dark enough that he was tripping every second step. Erin snuggled with Tom but when the fireworks started she got all excited. She clapped and oohed and ahhhed at all of them. Fireworks continue to be a big hit with Erin. Jeffrey, on the other hand, buried his head in my chest and whimpered the whole time. I tried to get him to look at them, but it was not to be - Jeffrey is not such a big fan of the fireworks.

So the rest of the week was spend recuperating from Tuesday. Grandma W. got here on Thursday and Saturday was the big Crab and Clam fest at Mr. Bakers. So we piled everything into the car (one would have thought we were packing for a weeks vacation in Europe by the amount of stuff that went into the car) and headed into town. The first thing Erin saw was the splashing pool (not deep enough for swimming). I convinced her that she didn't need to swim yet and we blew some bubbles and colored for a while. Erin got her first glimpse of live crabs and is now apparently scarred for life, even screaming at the sight of cooked crabs. She did eat some of the meat from Aunt Margaret though. Jeffrey found a new friend and ate his weight in watermelon. That boy LOVES watermelon.

Finally I let Erin get in the pool, where she stayed for the next 3 hours. One thing though, being in the pool apparently made Erin realize she had not eaten well for the last 3 months because she consumed 3 hot dogs, 2 servings of beans, a large amount of watermelon and her weight in chips. When she was the last person still in the pool, shaking and shivering because the sun had gone down we (Aunt Margaret and I) convinced her that it would be OK to get into dry clothes and get more to eat.

Jeffrey was possessed by sleepiness and actually sat on the blanket quietly coloring and playing with a set of keys for an extended period. Just about darkness the sparklers came out. Erin wasn't sure at first, but became more and more excited about them. She ran around the back years with 3 or 4 sparklers (1 at a time) waving them in front of anyone who would take her picture. Again, Jeffrey was terrified. Once the sparklers were used up it was time for the fireworks show. Erin again oohed and ahhed and Jeffrey gave into the sleepiness and snoozed through the whole thing. After packing up and getting everyone in the car both kids were asleep within 5 minutes of leaving Mr. Bakers.

So...it's been a busy week but we had lots of fun.