4th of July

We had a great 4th of July. My childhood friend Erin, her husband Ian, and their daughter Ella came to my parent's house for the afternoon. Our long-time mutual friend and pseudo-mother, Carolyn also joined us. They came around lunchtime for which my dad grilled hamburgers and Mom put together all the picnic fixin's. Benjamin had a melt-down about 5 minutes into his lunch and earned himself an early nap, which he was eager to take so he must have needed it.

After both babies woke up from their naps we took them to the pool. It was a gorgeous afternoon, not as hot as it had the few days preceding and the pool was just the right temperature. It was Ella's first time in a pool so Benjamin showed her how it is done. :) In reality, they were both in their own little world for the most part! They both had a great time in the water and it was so entertaining to watch them enjoy it.

Later on, we did take Benjamin to the fireworks on the golf course near my parent's house. I put him down for a "nap" at 7:00 (should have been 6:30) so he could get a little extra rest on the front end and I guess he thought he was down for the night, even though he still had another feeding to go, I hadn't changed his diaper, etc. So I had to wake him up around 8:15 to go.

We took Benjamin in the stroller and Mom in the wheelchair (for those of you who don't know, my Mom is battling with sciatica right now so she has limited mobility.) I think Benjamin really liked it that Mom was "on wheels" just like him. We walked down a little ways from their house and ended up right across from the place where they shoot up the fireworks. A man came over before the show started and gave Benjamin two glowing bracelets so he had a lot of fun chewing on those before and after the show.

It was a good show. Benjamin whimpered a tiny bit when they shot off the first couple, but I covered his ears with my hand and my cheek and after that he was totally excited/mesmerized. He watched them all very attentively. Sometimes he would kick his legs, especially when they were shooting off a "shower" with a lot of noise, sometimes he was very quiet and wide-eyed, and when then huge one's, way up high would burst he would tip his little head back and look straight up. He didn't miss a thing.

I think my favorite part was that he seemed to know he was getting a privilege. He was just so excited, and seemed to be on his best behavior. It was so sweet to see him enjoy it so much.