Fourth of July

We actually had a lot of fun this Independence Day. Usually we don't do anything except have a small little barbecue and fall asleep before the fireworks begin. Well, this year, we decided to live a little! After a little grocery shopping (and sleeping in!) we headed to the Shaker Pool for some fun with dad. Adam had never been to the pool with us before. Olivia was excited because I promised that Adam would take her into the "big" pool. She put on her life vest and hopped right in with daddy. She was so brave! I took her in last year and she freaked out, so I was surprised (but happy) that she was having so much fun. Jack, on the other hand, wanted to go in the big pool but made it clear that he did not want the life jacket on. Instead, he clung to me while we went in the lazy river and then ventured with daddy and Olivia into the actual pool. We tried to teach Olivia to kick to move around, but the life vest made it hard for her to get on her stomach. She did let us "float" her, as she calls it. We let go of her and let her float, or bob around, in her life jacket. She yelled "I like it! I like it!" It was really cute. We finally convinced the kids to go back up to the kiddie pool since I was getting cold and a little tired of lugging Jack around (although he is way lighter in the pool than real life!).

Daddy and Olivia in the lazy river. She loved the big pool and now I think we'll be visiting the big pool more often... darn it.Jack trying to go after Daddy and Olivia before I could put his life jacket on.Hopefully you can see how mad he is about having the life jacket on. This is when I decided to finally get my hair wet and take him in myself sans life jacket.

After the pool the kids took much needed naps, and then we went to a barbecue at a friend's house. It was a lot of fun with lots of yummy food. Nothing says Fourth of July to me then barbecue! Of course I had to have deviled eggs there (I think I've made them for the past few years now) and all the other salads and fruit and desserts were delicious!

We also attended the Shaker fireworks this year. We've never done it before, mainly because our kids are usually in bed by 7:30pm and the fireworks didn't start until 10pm. They did relatively well considering they weren't in bed until almost 11:30pm!

Olivia enjoying a sparkler- her only one of the evening. After this picture we were told they were not allowed at the fireworks area. I can see why... we had at least 8 or so kids waving them around. I'm surprised no one caught on fire or started a fire of their own.One of the few moments in history where you will see one of three things: 1) Me in a picture. 2) Adam and I together in a picture. 3) All of us (kind of) smiling in a picture. And yes, I know Jack is missing a shoe. He is always missing a shoe. Every time I am at Target or the grocery store, at least one person says "You know your son is missing a shoe" and I say "Yes, it's in the cart. He always takes it off." Like I wouldn't notice if he was missing a shoe (well, okay, I didn't notice once).Olivia surprisingly loved the fireworks. She would yell "Look! Look!" or "Whoa!" every time. The last time we saw fire works was in July 2005 with my sis-in-laws and Olivia cried the whole time. I had to wrap a blanket around her ears and sing a song as loud as I could to her to try and drown out the noise. The other time (2 times, I think) were at Indian's games and both times she cried "I want to go home!" so we did. Anyway... she loved the fireworks and the look on her face made the late night worth it.Jack, on the other hand, did not like the noise the fireworks made. Can you see the concern on his face? After this picture, his lower lip came out and he ran to my lap. I held him with my hands over his ears and he laid against me the whole time the fireworks were going on. He was so brave, though. He started to cry a couple of times, but then stopped himself and just watched the fireworks. Near the end he figured out they were alright and ventured over to Adam, but came back soon so I could rock him a little. Poor guy, he was so tired! We had a lot of fun although we are glad to be getting back to our normal bedtime schedule!