Fun for the Fourth

Our weekend got off to a rocky start, but more on that later. We made up for lost time with some major family fun for the 4th of July. We woke up very early for the parade Monday morning. We were the first from our group to get to the parade route, but hey – we got prime spots for the parade (right at the end, when the people are trying to get rid of all their candy!) London watched most of the parade from our friends’ tricycle, and Addy impressed everyone by smiling and laughing as the sirens blasted, and eventually falling asleep, all while Peyton danced and waved on the side of the road with her friends, yelling, “MUUUURICA!”  We opted to head home after for naps, instead of heading to the little carnival afterwords.

After power naps and lunch, we headed to our friend’s house on the river, where we boated to another friend’s house for a backyard party. Because driving would have been overrated. Peyton had a ton of friends there, so she was basically MIA the entire party, playing on a floating foam pad, putting on a gymnastics talent show, and seeing who could make the longest necklace out of glow sticks. London mostly ate; plates full of Doritos (thanks to big sis for that), pasta salad, hot dogs, and about 40 juice boxes that she kept giving to other kids before she finished them. She also  made everyone laugh with her dance moves – our little entertainer! Addy is making a hard run for kid of the year. She wowed everyone with her parade performance, and then again when she just chilled the whole afternoon at the party. She also had her first Otterpop. I guess that’s what happens when you’re the third kid and it’s hot outside.

Once the sun had set, most of the partygoers left to go see the fireworks, while others planned on watching them from the party. We boarded the boat, and anchored out with a ton of other boats to watch from the river. Adaline once again just chilled. She laughed, and her eyes got wide with every boom, but eventually she fell asleep. Our friends’ two kids passed out shortly after Adaline. We all took photos of fireworks, and laughed because our friend brought up a very important question: what do you even do with them? Nobody wants to see your firework photos on Facebook, and you definitely don’t look back at the video you took of them a year from now!

During every fireworks show, I’m always like, “Oh! It must be the Grand Finale!” “Nope! This is it!” “Guys. It’s the Grand Finale!” And it never is. David was quick to let me know, “Hey, it’s officially the Grand Finale!” He gets me. We laughed because the city kept letting off a few more after. Like, we all woo’d and applauded, then lifted anchor, and started to leave…and there go 2 more. And done. We get about 2 minutes down the river, and there go 2 more. It was nice to have fireworks to ride home to!

Peyton fell asleep immediately following the fireworks show with her mouth wide open. I tried to shut it for her, so bugs wouldn’t fly in, but no luck. Chocking that up to some extra protein. London was the last kid standing, and also managed to chew through a glow stick. Which I only noticed when I tried to take a selfie to show my mom that she was still awake. She was COVERED in fluorescent glowing goo. Fortunately, it was mostly on her jammies and not in her mouth.  I made her chug some lukewarm water, and called it good. Still waiting for a glowing dirty diaper 😉 She spent the end of the boat ride trying to catch bugs, and laughing. Toddlers are so weird cute.

Here are a few shots from our day: 

mexican blanket | addy’s headband | addy’s parade outfit | peyton’s romper | and sunglasses | my favorite white tee ever | addy’s sunhat

The girls treated us to a lazy morning, by waking up after 9! I’ll let freedom ring to that 😉