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This past Fourth of July weekend was so exhausting, we literally needed a day to recover.
Yes, an entire day devoted to hanging out on the couch in our pajamas/clothes we had on the day before. Yup, that lazy.
We kicked off our Fourth of July weekend at my sister’s party on Friday. It was a pot lock with s’mores and sparklers. All the Fourth of July necessities. The guys spent a huge portion of the day playing a game called Kubb. We had never heard of it before, but they sure had fun.
We also turned Hudson’s car seat around on the way to the party. He technically meets all of the guidelines and is over two, but I was trying to keep him rear-facing for as long as possible. He always tries to get in his brother and sister’s car seats and getting him in his own was turning into a huge wrestling match. Also, with new baby’s seat being rear-facing, Hudson was going to have to be turned around or both van doors would be blocked. Well he loved it and he happily gets in his seat now. Look at that grin!
At the end of the night Eleanor burnt herself on a sparkler. They were the kind with the rainbow paper that flare more than sparkle. We believe a piece of the paper fell, burning her hand, and she immediately dropped the sparkler and began crying. Ross was lighting/handing off the sparklers and for whatever reason, my first response when my kids get hurt is to “yell” at him. I of course did that and then immediately felt awful. I know he feels awful seeing our kids hurt too and blaming him doesn’t help anything. I think all the adrenaline and emotion of seeing my child hurt comes out in this, this-never-has-to-happen-again-if-you-were-more-careful-rage. Please tell me I am not the only mom who does this?
The worse part was, while we were busy bickering about the incident, my mom and sister ran her over to the ice bucket and stuck her hand in. We did pull ourselves together, pretty quickly, and tended to our sweet girl. She was crying pretty hard, because burns hurt like a mother. She had two pretty big blisters on each side of the webbing between her thumb and pointer finger.
While she was still wiping her tears and the Neosporin was fresh, I said it was time to do more sparklers. I convinced her those were the dangerous kind and we would do the safe kind (traditional sparklers). Believe it or not, she was willing to try. It took her a handful of sparklers to look like she was relaxing and enjoying it.
Our signal to leave any party is when Hudson is just plain done. At that point goodbyes and thank you’s are never graceful. He fell asleep on the car ride home.
The following morning was the Fourth and the parade and fireworks. My dad’s work is on the parade route and they always host a shin-dig with food, beer and a good view. Oh, and air conditioning and bathrooms.
My mom probably could of sent us on vacation to Aruba with the amount she paid for bubble guns for all of the kids from the street vendor. I kid, but those street vendors don’t mess around.
The kids loved it, so I guess it was worth it. Hudson was by far the most invested in the parade. He loved the pre-parade, which is all the firetrucks, police cars and emergency response vehicles. He also was a big fan of the tractors and he basically freaked when he saw a little blue truck in the parade, because he LOVES this book.
After the parade we went to my aunt’s house for a cookout. Our cue to leave was once again, Hudson. He fell asleep in the car. We all ended up taking a nap, which was fabulous! After naps, we set up the tent in the backyard for the kid’s annual camp out and then we headed to the beach.
The fireworks go off over Lake Michigan and the beach makes for the perfect viewing spot–no mosquitoes and it offers hours of entertainment. We got down there around six and the kids just played in the sand until the fireworks started at 9:30. All of my kids enjoyed the fireworks, no sound issues here.
On the way home from the fireworks, Hudson fell asleep, which made for a quick transfer. Quinn and Eleanor got in their pj’s and went out to the tent with a bucket of popcorn. Daddy sleeps in the tent with the kids. Mommy sleeps in the air conditioning in her bed.
Sunday, was yet another party. We went to a cookout at Ross’s parents. The kids had tons of fun playing in a tiny plastic pool. They desperately wanted to do the slip-in-slide, which only lead to tears, injuries and frustration. I don’t remember slip-n-slides being quite that traumatic or hard as a kid. I think they were too afraid to commit, so they just kind of plopped. No one could make it to the end of the slide.
The holiday weekend was really full and fun, especially for the kids. Do you remember the joy of days spent playing with cousins? That is such a prominent part of my childhood. All these shenanigans lead to a lazy Monday (see beginning of post).
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