Independence Day

We had a super Independence Day, although the early morning was a bit rough. I woke up extremely grumpy, so grumpy and grouchy, in fact, that my husband ended up getting out of bed when I was in the middle of doing kid breakfast so that I could crawl back IN bed and regain my sanity. When I finally did get up, I was grossly behind schedule. Our neighborhood has a kiddie parade each July 4th! They block off our street and a horde of neighborhood kids come and march up and down the street for about three blocks right in front of our house. So, we had some decorating to do.

I am a decorator-challenged person. At the last minute I finally remembered some old ribbon that I had in a box in the basement in patriotoic colors, along with a little bit of yarn. I dragged it out to the deck and commenced tying it on a push wagon for Mr. Perpetual Mess. While I tied, he tried to spear himself with the scissors. My husband distracted him long enough, and I managed to create this little float. HOWEVER, it didn’t make it to the kiddie parade because Mr. Perpetual Mess melted down about the ribbons on the handle where he was supposed to be PUSHING. He couldn’t get over it and ended up screaming uncontrolably for at least 40 minutes, whereupon it was finally decided that my husband would try to calm him down, and he could join the ranks of spectators at the parade.

Meanwhile, I tied a few more ribbons on Ms. Crazy Preschooler’s doll stroller, and she came up with the good idea of attatching some of the wrist bells we use for music class onto the stroller to make some spetacular noise. Satisfied with her creation, she and I walked down to the start of the parade route, where a crowd of kids were gathering: kids carrying dolls, kids walking dogs in patriotic attire, kids in strollers, wagons and things with wheels, and a very large flotilla of kids on deocrated bicycles. They traversed up the street while elderly neighbors cheered them on, and then the front half of the parade (on bicycles) headed back down the street nearly crashing into the other half of the herd still making their way up the street. Chaos, but oh so fun! At the end of the festival, everyone had cookies and ice cream. My kids were quite excited about the prospects of that kind of snack in the middle of the morning. Before lunch.

I traversed up and down the street with the parade, while the rest of my family took in the sights from the sidelines.

We had a delicious lunch of grilled hamburger sandwiches on our deck, and after nap, my husband took Ms. CP and Mr. PM to the beach. I stayed with The Banana, and we got lots of things done. They had a fantastic time playing in the sand. They arrived home for quick peanut butter sandwiches on yummy bread, and then we packed everybody up to go see fireworks. I was concerned that getting around down at the harbor where the fireworks were was going to be a nightmare with three kids, but it went unbelievably smooth! We sailed into the greatest parking spot, walked down to the park where the orchestra was playing, set up our lawn chairs and enjoyed watching the herd of people, the orchestra, and the gaggle of boats anchored out in the water waiting for the spetacular explosions.

They were, I am convinced, the BEST fireworks I have ever seen. Amazing. And they lasted a very long time. It was very impressive, and the kids loved them. The Banana was particularly entranced and in a silly, giggly mood. I thought leaving at the same time as thousands and thousands of other people was going to be terrible, but it went so smooth! We packed up, sailed down the street with our stroller, climbed in our car and drove out with less delay than normal everyday traffic. I couldn’t believe the organization that was in place.

It was the perfect night for fireworks, too. The tempterature was a comfortable 73 degrees, there was a light breeze to keep away mosquitos, and we were the perfect distance away from where they were launching the explosions so that it was just the right volume for kids to watch but not get scared of the booming sound.