Nooooo, that does not mean we are having another baby! So stop thinking that!
It's a blog post about the kids' first 4th of July with awareness. So cool! They have been to numerous amounts of fireworks shows over the last 2 years, really, this is their 3rd 4th of July (confusing?). The other shows they have been to they were just too little to understand, but we figured it was good practice to get them used to the BOOMS! But, alas, no matter how much we prepared them beforehand, the little kiddos were still scared this go 'round. :(
I started a few days before, trying to make them understand what we were going to see and that it was going to sound a bit like thunder but have the added bonus of colors in the sky! Neat! I did my best to hover over them and make sounds like fake thunder, booming really deep and making gestures with my hands above my head in my best attempt to replicate a show... but apparently I don't hold a candle to the real thing, cuz the real thing scared the pants off them.
We went to a show on the 3rd, they were all dressed up for the day - think I could get one picture of their cuteness? Nope. All I got was this:
No, Cole was not asleep, he was strategically peeking.
and this:
looks a tad scared, huh? He kept jumping and whining on every single boom - poor guy! Nice chocolate face.
And Marlene got this:
can you tell their eyes are open? Peeking through the gaps...Soooo funny.
Yep, that's them enjoying the brightly colored show in the sky with their eyes somewhat closed (covered). Training to be ninjas or jedi, I think, when they can enjoy the show even through closed eyelids. So proud! Actually, since Cole was leaning so heavily on Alex and they both had their eyes closed and covered, I think Alex actually fell asleep!
Then, on the actual 4th, and still no pictures of their cuteness - Alex had on sparkly red Dorothy shoes! Adorable! - we head into Lancaster a little early to take in the carnival they had set up and got a chance to ride the merry-go-round! Call me stingy and cheap, but wow that was a rip-off! Thankfully, Papa paid for these guys to ride, since we probably wouldn't have been able to do so... 3 stinkin' dollars for 2 minutes...times 3! So, 9 bucks for 2 minutes - and we went twice! Reeeeeediculous. Thank you, Papa! Cole loved it so much he wrapped his legs around the horse when it was time to get down and cried afterwards like we took something away. :)
The second night's fireworks were much more quiet and therefore more interesting to the kids - they kept going "ahhhh...BOOM!" or shouting out the colors that came up, though sometimes I caught them with their hands over their eyes again, only this time the spaces between the fingers were much wider. They even got up to walk around the blanket for a bit since they were so comfortable! Much more enjoyable after they got used to it. They snacked on cheez-its and raisins and licks of their cousins' ice cream cones and snuggled in lap after lap. They never stop moving! A cheez-it here, Mima's lap - a raisin here - Daddy's lap! Some ice cream... lay next to Papa!
Then, right after the show, and when we were on the complete opposite side of the carnival than our car...the unthinkable happened - our stroller broke. The steering cable snapped! On our ridiculously freakin' expensive stroller! So expensive it should have come with someone to push it! So, we (me, Papa and Grandma) had to carry the kids all the way back while Mike basically "carried" the humungo stroller. They are SO getting a call from us to complain! Grrrr.
Other than the stroller mishap, it was a great weekend and they loved the lights and rides and people and shows...they kept talking about it all day and night. So cute! Later, when tucking them in for the night (at 12:30am!), I heard Braden sleepily murmur "good night, mommy....good night, fireworks."
I love that boy.
