Billy had a big day on the 4th. His friend Cub came to visit. They started the day off with an early morning canoe ride.
And when I say early, I mean early. They went on a nature canoe. Cub and Billy got to see all kinds of wildlife. Fish, birds, bugs. And let's not forget the boats. Lots of boars.
After breakfast we headed out for a morning swim. Sorry, no pics. My camera isn't waterproof. Well, anyways, Billy decided to break out No Fear Billy. He was sitting on the second step in the pool, bouncing up and down so that his head was popping in and out of the water. He had no problem holding his breath doing this, and giggled every time he popped out. And when he got water in his mouth? No problem, just spit that yucky pool water out. Cub even showed him how to kick and Billy started acting like a pro-swimmer in the making. Not quite ready for the Olympics. Maybe the baby Olympics.
After lunch and a quick nap it was off to the parade. I helped decorate the cousins' float, but Billy is still a little small for riding in the parade, so we opted to watch instead. Here come the cousins!
Billy loved the parade. Especially the old fire truck. It's red. And a truck. And it's a red truck. There were old cars and Godzilla and the royal wedding showed up too. But mostly there was a red fire truck. With it's sirens on.
After the parade and the post-parade festivities, we headed back for some quiet time. Read: all of the adults except for myself ended up falling asleep, so I popped on some cartoons and plunked the boys down in front of some good, ole PBS broadcasting. Besides, it was hotter than Hades outside, so some time in the air conditioning was awesome.
And at this point it was time to cook dinner and force Billy into a second nap. He didn't want to go, but since he only got a half-nap before the parade, and needed to stay up late for the main event, he was going to sleep come hell or high water. We had quite a discussion for over an hour about sleeping, but finally he relented and went to bed. Finally.
That gets us to a lovely dinner that the dads cooked up for us on the grill. It was tasty, yummy and all of those adjectives.
But really, it's about the main event. The FIREWORKS!!!
Ok, now I realize that small people and loud explosives aren't usually a good mix. But last year we went with Cub to a concert with fireworks. We ended up next to the cannons. So when the 1812 Overture started...BOOM! He was a little freaked, but never cried.
Commence this year:
Well, we headed down at dusk. We had to park and ride the bus to get to the fireworks. Only, the bus was having issues because of all of the traffic. Golf cart traffic. No really. So, Bill, the golf course attendant, kindly picked us up in his golf course lawn truck. I can't describe it right- smaller than a pick-up, larger than a golf cart, designed with no windshield and green. Well, Billy got to ride in the back with us and a few other people, while Cub rode with his Mommy up in the windy front seat. Zoom! Away we went through the maze of golf carts down the rode and to the fireworks.
It was just getting dark when we laid our blanket out on a nice patch of sand. The dads went to fetch some beverages while we Mommies took the boys down to the water's edge. There were fireworks going off all up and down the bay. Billy and Cub took their shoes off and stuck their toes in the water. They were thrilled.
And then I turned around and we were in Tangled. There on the beach some people were lighting a fire balloon, just like in the movie. We turned the boys around just in time to watch it gently glide into the air and float out over the bay. I have never seen one in real life. It was super cool.
So, by then it was extra dark. We pulled up spots on the blankets and prepared, the boys on their respective Mommy's laps.
"Americans like to celebrate their country by blowing up a small piece of it."
Yep. Suddenly a firework burst overhead. Ooh. Aah.
Billy clapped at them. "Whoa!" he said with the good ones. And he alternately called out the colors, "Blue! Yellow! Blue! Yellow!" It didn't matter what color they actually were. They were alternately blue or yellow.
Then he realized that Cub was scared. Now, Cub is older and much bigger. But Billy is brave and he was not afraid. Cub's Mommy was covering his ears to protect him from the noise. So, Billy got out of my lap and went to sit beside Cub to comfort him. He also placed his hands over Cub's ears to make him feel better.
After awhile when Cub seemed to be okay, Billy wandered back over to me. He then became truly distressed that so many people were sleeping. I mean really, who sleeps through awesomeness??? Well, it was really just people laying down on the beach to look up at the fireworks, but Billy didn't recognize the difference and he was very upset at people missing all of the hubbub.
Of course, in true toddler style he actually got bored with the fireworks. Enough already. Blue, yellow, blue, yellow... I got it. I had to cajole him into sitting still. Then, a giant pregnant pause. Okay adults, you know what that means.
KABOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
And then it was over. Cub asked me why we shot off fireworks.
"Because today is America's birthday and we're celebrating. That's how we wish our country 'Happy Birthday.'"
So ends the tale of the Fourth.
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