4th of July Festivities

We debated about whether or not to take Corinne downtown on Friday night for the big city fireworks display and ended up deciding that we would take her to the smaller-scale community festivities this year to see how she handled things. So, we put her to bed Friday night and then I took off with my mom, my brother and his girlfriend to catch the show. They really changed up the soundtrack this year and there were fireworks that I had never seen before. We watched them from a bridge over the river and had a clear view. We took off a few minutes before the end of the show and made it home in 20 minutes!

On Saturday morning Corinne and I walked up to my mom's house to pick her up en route to the community parade. We picked out a nice shady spot in the middle of someone's drive way (since they wouldn't be going anywhere during the parade!) and settled in to listen to the marching bands and enjoy the floats. Corinne did a great job - she waved to the veterans and clapped for any groups that she particularly enjoyed. She danced to the music and watched intently as kids on bikes and in gymnastics groups went by. I guess it might be time to start thinking about enrolling her in some activities! Uncle Scott joined us about halfway through and I think a new person helped to keep her settled, she was well behaved for the entire parade which lasted almost 90 minutes. We walked back to my mom's house and settled in for the afternoon.
Corinne took a late nap and seemed to be in a great mood. Her bedtime is usually 8:00 and she was still doing great at 9:00 when we packed up and headed to the park for the local fireworks. She handled the crowd well and played on the playground, without concern for the 150 other kids running around, until it was time to lay back and watch the sky explode with color. She enjoyed the first 5 minutes or so and she wasn't afraid but she was ready for the fireworks to be "all done" so we picked her up and started walking home. Corinne wanted to be held the whole way home and she watched the show with her head on our shoulders, occasionally telling us what color the fireworks were.

She slept soundly that night, but woke up right on time. I was sure she would sleep in at least a little bit...no rest for the weary! On Sunday we met my family at a park to have a picnic and cookout. There is a water park and I packed Corinne's swimsuit so she got to enjoy a reprieve from the heat and humidity while 'milking' a cow and panning for gold in the toddler's play area. She probably ran about a mile while chasing a soccer ball and tennis ball around on a basketball court with Uncle Scott and Hayley. She took a short nap after lunch and we headed home shortly after she woke up.

It was a great holiday weekend and so much fun to see things through the eyes of a child again.