A 4th I'll Remember...especially my achy body.

By the time I rolled into bed last night around 11:45, I was exhausted to say the least. Oh what a day. Let's see, it started off with both boys parading around our room at about 7:00 am. I'm thinking they haven't mastered the idea of sleeping in on weekends. It's cool though, it was still sleeping in to me considering I get up around 5 am during the week (at least during camp time). I made breakfast for my family (and Neil's uncle, aunt, and cousin...which I'll tell about later), good old cheese grits, eggs, sausage, and fresh fruit. Then Owen, Madison and I took off to Target for a couple necessities like pop-tarts (they make camp mornings so much easier), snacks for lunch, and a birthday present for Tucker. Owen actually picked out a remote control tarantula which I thought was pretty cool, but decided that it was better for Michelle's family then my own. Plus it just so happened to be on clearance. Have I mentioned how much a love a good deal?

After Target we were off to Michelle's house to celebrate Tucker's 4th birthday. Of course Owen was confused by this. "Mommy, why isn't it my birthday. My birthday is next." Yeah, I'm starting to rethink my recent strategy to divert his attention from Blake's birthday by making sure he knew that his birthday was coming up next...in our family. Oh well, we're in the why stage anyways, so really any topic would have annoyed me at that point. The party was great/ Lots of friends, both mine and Owen's. Lots of food, enough to make me feel glutenous (but that faded later). And even a little camp talk, though we tried to keep it to a minimum.

Oh goodness, I have to tell you about the phone call I got earlier that morning. So my phone is ringing and I look down and notice it's not a number I recognize. Now, on any other day of the year (except maybe Christmas), I would answer it "Grace Adventures Day Camp, This is Hillary. How may I help you?" Since my cell phone doubles as the camp phone, it makes sense. But yesterday, when I saw this number, I thought, "oh it's the 4th and no one would call camp on the 4th." Sure enough, it was a mom wanting to sign her three kids (not the same lady whose message I deleted) up for camp next week. From now on, I'll make sure to stick to my self=imposed policy.

We left the party around 1:30. I had almost decided not to go to the parade. I was tired. Owen was tired. Madison was teething and cranky. So I went over to Old Navy to see if I could find some shorts. They had 1 pair in the whole store in my size, so I bought it. We roll up to the dressing room and I realize Owen is asleep in the back of the cart. Great, now what? I get him into the car and decide to wait a few minutes, still on the fence as to whether to walk in the parade. Around 2:30 Owen wakes up. "Mommy, are we going to the parade now?" That sealed it. But the parade started at 3:00 and we were supposed to be there at 2:00 to line up. I called my friend Leslie who is the secretary of the republican club (and also lives in my neighborhood) and asked if it was too late. Nope, she just told me where I needed to go. Since we live so close, it was easier to just go home and walk then it would have been to try and find a parking space. In super hero speed, I parked, went potty, got out the stroller, loaded up the kids, and literally ran (in flip flops) about a mile to where they were lining up.

Owen was intrigued, to say the least. He'd never seen a parade before. Since our float was about half way through the line up, we got to watch the first half of the parade from an up close and personal vantage point. When it was our turn to start walking, I asked Owen if he wanted to walk and wave. He said no, and he literally sat in the stroller the entire time. We were walking with the Patapsco Valley Republican Club. Surprisingly enough, we weren't greeted by many boos. Actually I only heard one from a loony looking guy who looked three sheets to the wind and a little off his knocker. Mostly we were greeted by enthusiastic cheers and even a few people who joined us in the parade. Once we got to the end of the parade route, it was time to walk home. I'm guessing it's about a two miles. Keep in mind, I'd already walked that if not more. By the time we got home, I was utterly exhausted, aching even, and no longer feel glutenous.

We were home for a few hours, ate dinner, relaxed, and then got ready to head out again. This time were going to see the fireworks at the high school. We figure it's about 2 1/2 to 3 miles to the school. Since we were walking we didn't have to deal with traffic or the hassle of finding a parking space. But it was a long walk, and of course, we still had to get home. But we got there, found a place to sit, and waited for the 'works to begin. The kids were beyond tired, but the excitement and anticipation kept them up for a little while.

The show began around 9:30. Blake was intrigued, Owen was scared and Madison cackled at the sparkly fun. I'm not sure exactly how long the show lasted, but by the end, we had three sleeping children and two sleepy parents. On the walk home, Blake was snoozing in the little red wagon, Madison was snoozing in her car seat, and Owen was trying to snooze in the back of the stroller (but it's really not that conducive for snoozing).

All in all, I'd say I got plenty of exercise yesterday. In fact, my muscles will attest to that this morning. The kids had a lot of fun being exposed, for the first time, to all the 4th festivities.

Today I'm taking a Sabbath. This is the first Sunday, in so long I can't remember, that I haven't had to go in to work. So we're just chilling out (except for the grocery shopping). This morning, we're going out to breakfast, and then off to run some family errands, maybe a park for the kids, and then home to rest. I'll pick up tomorrow with a few more camp stories. I want to tell you about our picnic on Friday and Neil's family's visit, but right now I hear the sound of a very hungry baby.