4th of July 2011

I LOVE the 4th of July.  In fact, I daresay it's my favorite holiday!  Warm weather, parades, water, bbqs, fireworks, and spending the day/weekend with your family!  This year was a blast and it was so much more fun since Chloe is old enough to play more!  We started the day at the Hurricane parade, where Chloe cried her eyes out at all of the loud noises and sadly, the most entertaining part was the old car pulling the boat (as seen above).  Thankfully, that was the last disappointment of the day :)  Chloe participated in the 1 year old foot race...and won!  I was so proud of her!  I didn't even think she'd leave the starting line, but I took her water bottle and a tootsie roll to the other side and she was rearing to go!  Ronnie had to hold her back so she didn't go before it was time and I like to think it was because I was at the finish line, not the candy.  She won two tickets and surprise, surprise, chose an airplane!  After that we went to the slip n' slide where the firemen had extended the ladder of their truck and had their hose spraying from the top.  Again, Chloe surprised us and went straight into the water and played to her hearts content (she usually freaks out if there's water falling from above her)!  Ronnie and I even joined in since it was so stinkin' muggy out and were cool and comfortable for the rest of the afternoon.  Later we rejoined Ronnie's family for lunch and then headed over to the new splash pad!  Again, Chloe has NEVER played on a splash pad because they freak her out for some reason, but today, after a small hesitation, she jumped right in!  It made me so happy to finally see her laughing and playing and splashing.  Ever since then, splash pads have been a success!  Hooray!  After that, we headed home for family nap time.

In evening we went to my parents house for a perfect summer bbq with burgers, Mom's homemade potato salad and watermelon.  I think Chloe's courage ran out for the day about the time we lit the first sparkler...fireworks were a no go and the only way she sat through the big show in town was with Ronnie's hands firmly planted over her ears.  It was exactly as the 4th of July should be, and only because of our brave men and women, past and present, who serve and protect our country.  Hats off to them.  Happy 4th of July!