Happy Independence Day!

It's Independence Day.

I love this holiday. I love spending time with my family. Having picnics, spending time out in the sun (unfortunately, I think we're going without the sun this year), and of course, watching fireworks.

Fireworks on Independence Day rank right up there with Christmas in my book. I love, love, LOVE fireworks. I can't get enough of them.

Last night, we went to the Perrysburg/Maumee firework display. Wow. They were spectacular. The picture below is inside the fort. We sat right outside of Fort Meigs. They had a little fair going on before hand, so we got our first taste of hand-cut french fries, hot dogs/brats and kettle corn. A perfect evening.


Evan was full of questions, most importantly, "Is it time for the fireworks to start yet?". I think we heard that question AT LEAST three dozen times. I think I finally started asking him the question to see how he would respond. Considering we arrived at 7:30, he had a while to wait, but did so with as much patience as a 5 1/2-3/4 child can muster. So asking the question is excused.

Kaleb was fantastic, as well. We were a little worried at first, because he started out the trip rather fussy. He enjoyed just riding around in his stroller, taking in all of the people. He also enjoyed a few fries with his very first taste of ketchup.

Hopefully, he won't be as obsessed with the tomato sauce as his older brother, who informed me the other day that ketchup is good for you. Okay, I know it contains Lycopine, but I would think that the vast amounts of sugar would outweigh the healthy benefits of lyopine.

But, I digress... Kaleb. He was good. yeah. In the last half hour before the display began, he got extra fussy, but I think that's because he hadn't nursed most of the evening, and he was also getting tired. SO, we settled down in his sling and nursed. Unfortunately, he wasn't terribly happy to be in his sling, so we made due without, and actually did really well.

Once the fireworks started, both kids were mesmerized. I was mesmerized by the kids. I think I watched the two of them more than I did the fireworks. Evan had a running commentary of questions-- "What are fireworks, how do they work, what are they made of, etc etc etc." I tried to get some on video, but was unsuccessful. It was very cute, though. Kaleb was content to just watch the fireworks. I teared up a little, watching him enjoy his first firework display.
(Evan and Kaleb were snugged up together watching the fireworks for a while in this picture.)


Once the show was over, the mass of people trying to get out of that area was insane. Fortunately, Greg had the foresight to bring a movie along for Evan to watch (Star Wars, AGAIN-- but we'll get to that in another post). I think Evan managed to watch about half of it, if that tells you just how long we were stuck traffic.

It was a great evening. As I write this, Evan and Greg are out playing baseball. I think our good friend Kyle has just joined them. I think I heard a rumor that there might be fishing today as well. Kaleb has FINALLY gone down for his first nap of the day. We're only 4 hours behind on that one.

My hope is that we can have a late picnic lunch and maybe go see the Bowling Green fireworks display tonight. Because you know, I love, love, LOVE fireworks. Maybe tonight, I'll get to see more of them, rather that being mesmerized by the kids. I doubt it, though. They're more fun to watch!

-jenn