Happy Birthday, America!

I was so disappointed that our city had to cut our annual fireworks display thanks to city budget cuts (but so glad they hadn't had to cut out the Armed Forces day parade instead- great choice, city!) and we couldn't do the same thing we did last year and the year before for fireworks.  We had been hoping that this year we'd be able to join Dave at his work on the Fourth of July, but unfortunately since he's stationed at Disney and the station is technically on Disney property, we weren't able to even visit him for a bit, let alone stay for Disney's fireworks.  We did have other options, though, and we were blessed by three separate invitations!  I was torn about which invitation to accept, but in the end I was really happy with my decision, even though we had to miss out on great fun with friends and even though we didn't end up getting home until 11pm.

Since I knew we were going to have a late night, I decided to keep the boys home all day and try to extend Sam's nap as late as possible so that he wouldn't freak out too badly later on.  So we invited some family over to splash in the backyard!  Grandma accepted the invitation, of course, and Grammy and grandpa both also stopped by for a while, and the boys were thrilled!  We had a great time playing, and my plan worked well- Sam ended up taking an epic nap!

Then grandma started a water fight...

... and Jack had so much fun getting her back!  I bet she regretted that!  (You can really see how much Jack's body has changed lately- he's really thinned out and is starting to look so grown up!)

We took a break for lunch,

Then Jack decided to make a waterslide

Sam loved it, too!

So much so, that he pooped.  Since it was almost naptime at that point I decided not to waste another diaper and just let him "swim" naked.  He LOVED that!  I have a video that I wish I could post, but there isn't really a way to put a modestly patch on a video, so you'll have to settle for photos ;) 

Meanwhile, Jack and grandpa took over the water fight where grandma and Jack left off

As it turned out, my strategy worked a little too well- not only was Sam exhausted, but grandma, grandpa and Jack were, too!  Jack hasn't napped in well over a year and he didn't that day, but he did need a nice rest!  So grandma wrapped him up in a towel and they told stories (one of his very favorite things to do is tell stories!).  Grandpa DID need a nap, though, which was no surprise to us since he is the King of naps!

While Sam slept, my parents ran back home to get ready for our outing that night and I made sure that the car was packed with all of the stuff we'd need that night, too!  I called them as soon as Sam woke up from his nap and they came over to hitch a ride with us.  We stopped at Subway to grab some sandwiches on our way to the beach to watch fireworks!!!  We knew that we would be able to see two fireworks shows from there, so we threw Sam in teh wagon along with a bunch of other stuff to keep us busy while we waited for our friends, the "H" family, to join us!

And then our friends got there!  Jack and Sadie played in the sand while Savannah and Serena played frisbee with their dad

And then Serena came to play in the sand while Savannah played with Sam

When the sun went down, Jack started going crazy with excitement!  We were about a mile or two down the beach from the fireworks, and we had a great view!  When they were over, though, we had a short intermission before the next show started... right in front of us!  They shot the fireworks off of a barge in the water, and it was really cool!  Jack and Sam LOVED the shows, and they stayed awake the whole time despite it being WAY past their bedtime!

Jack and Sam may have lasted through both fireworks shows, but Serena and Sadie didn't!  Serena even fell asleep sitting up!

Yeah, I'd say we definitely had a great Fourth!

Trains With Daddy!

When Dave finally came home from his most recent 96 hour shift, we were so excited to see him!  To celebrate having our daddy back for a few hours (he had to work again the next three days!), we packed up a lunch and headed out to one of our favorite local parks... it just happened to be on the day that they were running the trains!  Jack, of course, always asks if the trains are running when we drive by that park (or even when he thinks of it and we're nowhere near the park, which is quite often!), so of course that was how we chose to celebrate having daddy home!

We were so anxious to go that we got there before it even opened!  We didn't have to wait very long, though, before they opened the gates to let us line up, and we ended up being on the first train!  Jack and Dave got to sit up front right behind the steam engine and Sam and I ended up near the back of the train because Sam was too little to sit in the bucket seats.  It was a bummer that we didn't get to sit next to each other, but at least I was able to get a couple pictures of Jack and Dave since I was far enough away from them!

Here you can see Jack and Dave and the two empty seats that Sam and I didn't get to ride on (I think he could have sat there just fine!)

It had been a few months since the last time we came to ride the trains, so we were very surprised and excited to see a few new train cars on the track... most notably this one, that we knew that grandma would love! 

(my mom collects all things Campbell's Soup- her kitchen is decorated in Campbell's Soup stuff!)

We rode the train three times... the lines were moving very fast that day, despite one of the engines breaking down and us having to wait for them to clear the track.  The kids did a great job waiting during that time, though- I think it helped that there were so many train things to look at, and not to mention that we had daddy to keep them entertained!

After our third ride it was lunch time, so we headed over to the picnic table to eat!  The boys were so good and gobbled up their lunch in record time... they ate so fast, that we had time to ride the train two more times before it was time to go home for Sam's nap!  We had such a fun day, and we were so glad to get to spend it with daddy!!!