Happy Fourth of July!!

We had a great Fourth of July this year! We woke the kids up early so that we’d have time to eat before leaving for the parade. We enjoyed our normal Fourth of July breakfast… waffles with whipped cream, blueberries, and strawberries. The kids loved their red, white and blue breakfast! We quickly changed the kids into their cute, matching Fourth of July outfits, grabbed the camera and some water bottles, and left for the parade at 8:15am.

We’re used to the small town parade we attended every year ”back home” so it was quite a change to attend a very large parade instead. The crowds were enormous! We had a long walk to even reach the parade route and then found the grass and sidewalks bursting with blankets, lawn chairs, and throngs of people. We threw our blanket down in the very first spot that we saw and settled in to watch the parade.

We all really enjoyed the parade. The morning air was relatively cool, which was a major bonus for me. There were lots of neat floats and giant balloon animals, tons of marching bands, horses, fire engines, people in various character costumes… you know, typical parade stuff… But, again, on a larger scale than what our family was used to.

Braden loved the animals and pointed out several balls during the parade as well. He also accidentally dumped half a bottle of water down his front when he tried to drink it by himself. And I don’t know how many times I had to tell him not to eat grass!

Madalyn was tired and a bit pouty. But she loved the Disney princesses when they paraded on by and there were lots of girls riding on the floats that delighted her with their long, fancy dresses.

Joshua danced every time a band marched past us and we discovered that he dances exactly like Elaine from Seinfeld. It was hilarious and adorable. He was thrilled when a group of Star Wars characters passed us. He’s never seen the movies (and won’t see them for a long time even though he frequently asks if he is old enough). But he still knows the characters and basic plot (thanks to his Daddy) so he was thrilled.

Brenna was pretty into the entire parade. She loved the floats, the bands, and the cheerleaders. And she was great about smiling whenever I wanted a picture.

After the parade we headed for home. I took group pictures of the kids in their matching Fourth of July clothes. We did some holiday crafts and coloring, and Brenna made a darling book which she titled “My Fourth of July Scrapbook.” It was adorable and very creative and filled with things she wanted to remember about this Fourth of July. 

Then we all began to cook and bake and barbecue like crazy. We made delicious red, white, and blue popsicles with juice, yogurt, and whipped cream and put them in the freezer for the afternoon. We made gluten-free vanilla cupcakes. I put out three colors of homemade frosting (in red, white and blue of course!), blueberries, chopped strawberries, several icing tubes, and lots of red, white, and blue sprinkles. The kids got right to work frosting the cupcakes. I absolutely loved watching their creativity come alive- every single cupcake was completely unique. There were some cupcakes that were spread with over an inch of frosting and another inch of sprinkles. There were other cupcakes that were quite artfully decorated with fruit and sprinkles. The kids had a blast and I loved watching them work!

We tried to get Braden in on the decorating action. I gave him a cupcake and some frosting. He dutifully spread the frosting for a few minutes, but then he succumbed to temptation and started eating his cupcake instead. Once all the cupcakes were decorated, I snapped a few pictures (I can never resist taking pictures) and then let the kids each pick their favorite cupcake to eat.

We had a late lunch. Rick made delicious kabobs with marinated steak, chicken, red and green bell peppers, onions, and pineapple. He grilled them on our barbecue. Yummy! We had pasta salad (so refreshing this time of year), and corn on the cob (the kids loved shucking it!) We have corn on the cob “handles” that twist into the ends of the ears of corn. Braden called these “binkies” or “corn binkies” and they actually did look a lot like his binkies!

After lunch I decided that we didn’t need to clean up (which is SO unlike me) and instead we all spent a few hours snuggling, watching movies, and napping together. It was a nice way to spend the late afternoon hours.

At 6pm, I packed a picnic dinner and we left for the local fireworks show. The sky was overcast and there was a gentle breeze so the evening was very cool and comfortable. We spread our blanket on the grass and enjoyed our picnic dinner. We played football and soccer and tossed the frisbee around. The kids and Daddy had a major wrestling match in the grass and even did the limbo with Brenna’s jump rope. Eventually the kids made friends with a family sitting near us, who happened to have kids very close to our kids ages.

Braden carried his apple from dinner and refused to put it down even though it was large and cumbersome for him to haul around. He enjoyed playing baseball with the bat and ball he brought along and he was delighted with a kite that someone was flying nearby. He kept grabbing my shoulder and crying out, “Mama, look! Kite!”

 As it began to get dark I pulled out the kids’ glow sticks. We snapped them all to make them glow and made bracelets and necklaces. I had forgotten to buy any new glow sticks so these were leftovers from last Halloween. I was so happy to find them when I realized that I hadn’t bought any new ones, but by the end of the night, four of them had broken open, spilling the glowing liquid everywhere! I’ll never use “old” glow sticks again!

All evening long the kids had begged to know when the fireworks would start. We kept telling them that it wouldn’t be until after dark. So when the sun finally slipped below the horizon, the kids’ anticipation really kicked into high gear. The kids continued to play in the magical twilight until it was finally dark enough and the show began.

Brenna and Joshua kicked back on the grass to watch the fireworks. Maddie would scream half with delight and half with fear every time a firework exploded in the sky. Every time she cried out, she’d also back up a little. I kept pulling her back to our blanket and away from the people sitting behind us. Braden was delighted by the fireworks. At first he shouted, “Oh, wow!” after each one. But then he heard Maddie’s little screams and began adding shrill squeals of his own after each firework. The show was very well done and we all enjoyed it. 

I’d been having contractions all day long, but they were at least 20 minutes apart so nothing to get worked up over. While we waited for the fireworks show, the contractions got closer and closer together. And during the show itself they were only a few minutes apart. So I must admit that I didn’t pay too much attention to the fireworks in the sky (though they were big and beautiful). I was mostly concentrating on each contraction… and in between them I was thinking about the things on my list that still needed to be done (switching the car seats, for instance). I began to regret my earlier decision to not clean up our barbecue lunch.

When the fireworks were over we left for home. Brenna and Joshua were thrilled to be up so late and kept commenting that it was waaaay past their bedtime. Maddie and Braden both fell asleep on the car ride home.

We had intended to light fireworks in the road at home, but all the houses were so dark that we wondered if everyone was in bed already. We didn’t want to be the “rude neighbors” who light noisy fireworks after bedtime so we promised the kids we’d light them tomorrow instead. Plus, I was still contracting heavily at that point.

Rick put the kids to bed and I sat on my labor ball to help ease the pressure of each contraction. They continued on, painful and close together, for several hours. Around 1am, they slowed down enough for me to fall asleep. But I was woken up several times during the night with intense contractions and I’m still having them this morning (though they are farther apart now). I am spotting again as well. So I feel like we are on “baby watch” now.

I am pushing to get everything crossed off my baby list this morning. The house needs to be tidied, the van needs to be cleaned out, the car seats need to be switched and washed, and our bags need to be packed.

Once that is done we are planning on seeing a movie (either Wall-E or Kung Fu Panda) and we will light our own fireworks in the street tonight. Of course, that is if this baby cooperates…

So we had a wonderful holiday together and the kids are already excited for the next Fourth of July!

*UPDATE*
We got our cleaning finished and went to an afternoon showing of the movie Kung Fu Panda. The kids really enjoyed it. Braden did great- laughed, pointed at the screen, and chowed down on candy and popcorn- for about 3/4 of the movie. But near the end exhaustion kicked in. He suddenly didn’t want any any treats and even his binkie could not soothe him. I took him to the bathroom, scrubbed him clean in the sink (he was unbelievably sticky), and then stood on the side of the theater and rocked him. I was able to watch the end of the movie and he fell asleep in my arms.

On the way home Rick bought me a “shaved ice” snow cone (my favorite) and then we stopped at a furniture store just for fun. We ate pizza for dinner, tidied up and finished some laundry, and then went outside to light our fireworks in the street. The kids had a great time watching as Daddy lit them and they really enjoyed the Pop-Its. Even Braden loved throwing them and he was surprisingly good at making them explode.

In baby news, I still feel like my body is an engine revving powerfully. Just like yesterday my contractions have gotten progressively closer together and I have had more spotting. “Baby watch” continues. I really have no idea when this will happen. This little guy could tease me for weeks, as he is still high and floating. Or he could come very soon; I don’t see how my body can continue to “rev” like this without going into labor. Either way, we are all excited to meet our little guy!