▼

Saturday, July 04, 2009

to be three on the fourth

JAM, the almost-9 year old, enjoyed the fireworks in a relaxed pose on the blanket, half-sitting, half-lying down. Pudge almost immediately settled into his position on my left shoulder, head down, thumb in mouth, with only a slight tremble, optimistically clapping at each significant pause between fireworks' releases, only to be presented with more loud bangs and responding by laying back down. And then there was Red.

"OH!! OH!! MY FAVORITE!" This was heard approximately 46 times. And for once, I'm really not exaggerating.

"WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW! WOW!" This mantra was recited again and again, and yet the enthusiasm never diminished with each repetition. The awe was truly genuine each and every time.

"I love how they go up and then bloom down. They are going up in the sky and then blooming down to the earth!" This one just made my heart skip a beat.

"I'm going to cover up my knees with my dress, so they don't get burned when they come down." With a quick little reassurance that the fireworks were not going to rain down on us, (perhaps she remembered last year when we were covered in bits of ash and tiny papers from the fireworks??) she comfortably readjusted her dress and went on to enjoy the show.

"WOW! MY FAVORITE! THAT ONE'S MY FAVORITE, TOO! WOW! WOW! MY FAVORITE!!" Yeah, she made a hybrid of sorts of her comments.''

"Oooh! Purple! Orange! Green! My favorite- PINK! Red!" Sometimes the naming of colors didn't even match with anything in our line of sight, but at least she knows the names of some colors!

This year's 4th of July didn't quite play out the way we had planned, but with a relaxing morning and afternoon at home that included an almost solid hour of reading outside during naptime, Five Guys for dinner, some fun bike riding (thanks to some great friends who let us borrow some equipment!!), cool pals to hang out with at the park, and watching fireworks with my relaxed hubby and oldest, an only slightly terrified toddler, and the personification of JOY screaming her delight in my ear... life is so very good.


Happy Independence Day to you all,

at

8 comments:

  1. Michelle7/05/2009 12:08 AM

    Oh how cool! I love that enthusiasm. We've still yet to do fireworks with either of the wee ones (excluding the year Mister Man wasn't yet one and he slept through it essentially). So way cool for you, and what a fun day! Happy Fourth to you!

    We're still hunkering down for all the illegal fireworks shaking our house around here... hoping they stop before 1am (unlike last year).

    OH! And I talked to a friend of mine yesterday who's a RE person for Five Guys, and there are TWO opening near us soon -- finally! :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Carrie7/05/2009 1:20 AM

    That! is awesomeness. I LOVE it! Thanks for sharing. It put a big smile on my face!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cami7/05/2009 1:29 AM

    That is so fun. It makes me wish I'd taken my kids to the fireworks. I'm a lame mommy. We did our own at home last night and I was not up for 2 late nights in a row!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Corinne7/05/2009 2:58 PM

    I wish I'd been with you to hear that glee! I knew that Preston would be TERRIFIED (his reaction to the fire engines in the parade was a good gauge, I thought) so we opted out. I hope we can enjoy them as a family soon - sounds like you sure did :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Samsmama7/05/2009 5:15 PM

    Beautiful! I love it when after the fact they try to describe their very favorite one to you. I'm pretty sure they can see it in their minds.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Scott Mooney7/06/2009 10:10 AM

    It was a blast. Took a while to be okay with the change of plans but I'm glad we got to do the hometown thing. And you're a trooper on the bike!!! A little slow, but you never complained! :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Carrie7/07/2009 10:43 AM

    Love this! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Betsey7/07/2009 2:01 PM

    The joy, the thrill, the excitement, even the anxious fear of Pudge, so wonderful. Such a great documentation.

    ReplyDelete

Whatcha thinking?