Mabye we'll see on the Fourth of July
One of the last lines on the last episode of "The Wonder Years" was said by the Dad (and I don't know if I have this exactly right, but this was the gist): "It was a good Fourth."
It was a good Fourth.
We went to the neighborhood bike parade, and it was fun. Eldest got off to a little slow start to the parade, he rode the whole thing (about 5 blocks). There was a potluck picnic after, and we stayed about an 1 1/2 hours -- it was starting to get hot and the boys started getting tired. Oh, the other highlight, during the singing of the national anthem before the parade kicked off, right at the part at huge sporting events fighters might fly overhead, four fighters flew overhead! OK, we are with 30 miles of an air base and we've seen fighters before, so it was just a coincidence, but that was some great coincidence.
The afternoon wasn't too eventful. Wife and I got a few things done around the house, nothing major; Littlest napped; Eldest was crabby but never napped. His mood eventually improved and he played some games on the computer. Our goal was getting Eldest to stay awake long enough for fireworks. A big fireworks celebration is at a big park a few blocks from us, and we were hoping to see most of it from just outside our house.
The plan almost didn't work, as Eldest almost fell asleep -- it was past his bedtime. Before that, Littlest tumbled off a kiddie chair outside and gave himself a fat lip. But we managed to get Eldest outside again, and Wife and a sleepy Littlest came out too. With Littlest dozing off, and Eldest getting antsy seeing people walk toward the park, we agreed I'd take Eldest near the park to watch his first fireworks show.
It was about a 3/4-mile walk. Along the way, we saw some people lighting off small fireworks, getting Eldest excited for the big show. There were a lot of people in the park, many who staked out their space early and waited in the 100-degree heat. But we didn't go all the way to the park, finding a nice spot in a soccer field in the high school next to the park. Still, there were enough people that I insisted Eldest stay close. The fireworks began around 10, and Eldest was captivated. Not giddy insane, but he watched the whole show. I tried to explain to him to say "Oooh, Ahhh, Ohhhh" after impressive fireworks, but he was kind of silent through the whole show. It helped we had a great view from where we were, about parallel from where the fireworks were being launched. I could tell he was getting tired near the end, and he said he was chilly, even with a blanket wrapped around him.
The show ended, and I put Eldest on my shoulders to go home. There were so many people streaming out from the general area (not only residents from the surrounding neighborhoods, but people whose only option to park was the residential streets), that rather than hold his hand, I knew he'd wouldn't get lost up there. Did run into run tree branch (I'm not as used to Eldest, and his clearance, as I am with Littlest up in my shoulders), and my neck is going to be sore tomorrow from carrying 45 pounds for almost a mile, but we made it home and Eldest was asleep after about five minutes.
Like I said, it was a good Fourth.
It was a good Fourth.
We went to the neighborhood bike parade, and it was fun. Eldest got off to a little slow start to the parade, he rode the whole thing (about 5 blocks). There was a potluck picnic after, and we stayed about an 1 1/2 hours -- it was starting to get hot and the boys started getting tired. Oh, the other highlight, during the singing of the national anthem before the parade kicked off, right at the part at huge sporting events fighters might fly overhead, four fighters flew overhead! OK, we are with 30 miles of an air base and we've seen fighters before, so it was just a coincidence, but that was some great coincidence.
The afternoon wasn't too eventful. Wife and I got a few things done around the house, nothing major; Littlest napped; Eldest was crabby but never napped. His mood eventually improved and he played some games on the computer. Our goal was getting Eldest to stay awake long enough for fireworks. A big fireworks celebration is at a big park a few blocks from us, and we were hoping to see most of it from just outside our house.
The plan almost didn't work, as Eldest almost fell asleep -- it was past his bedtime. Before that, Littlest tumbled off a kiddie chair outside and gave himself a fat lip. But we managed to get Eldest outside again, and Wife and a sleepy Littlest came out too. With Littlest dozing off, and Eldest getting antsy seeing people walk toward the park, we agreed I'd take Eldest near the park to watch his first fireworks show.
It was about a 3/4-mile walk. Along the way, we saw some people lighting off small fireworks, getting Eldest excited for the big show. There were a lot of people in the park, many who staked out their space early and waited in the 100-degree heat. But we didn't go all the way to the park, finding a nice spot in a soccer field in the high school next to the park. Still, there were enough people that I insisted Eldest stay close. The fireworks began around 10, and Eldest was captivated. Not giddy insane, but he watched the whole show. I tried to explain to him to say "Oooh, Ahhh, Ohhhh" after impressive fireworks, but he was kind of silent through the whole show. It helped we had a great view from where we were, about parallel from where the fireworks were being launched. I could tell he was getting tired near the end, and he said he was chilly, even with a blanket wrapped around him.
The show ended, and I put Eldest on my shoulders to go home. There were so many people streaming out from the general area (not only residents from the surrounding neighborhoods, but people whose only option to park was the residential streets), that rather than hold his hand, I knew he'd wouldn't get lost up there. Did run into run tree branch (I'm not as used to Eldest, and his clearance, as I am with Littlest up in my shoulders), and my neck is going to be sore tomorrow from carrying 45 pounds for almost a mile, but we made it home and Eldest was asleep after about five minutes.
Like I said, it was a good Fourth.
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