Happy Fourth of July!

We decided this Fourth of July to go all out and cram as much as we could into one long weekend. It was very fun and exhausting!

First we went to the Balloon Glow at Brucemore Mansion. In the huge open lawn there were vendors, live music (note the super cheesey rocker), and about 5 hot air balloons. When the sun finally set they would light up the balloons it was really pretty. Unfortunately, we couldn't enjoy the full effect because we had to take Maddy home since it was so late. Maddy was a super trooper and did great. Her favorite part was probably the ride we took in a school bus over to the event. She's been saying, "Ride school bus" ever since.

The next day we went to the Kernals minor league baseball game. Maddy really enjoyed the melty icecream Ethan got, which she refused to eat with a spoon. So she just dug in with her fingers. For some reason no one else wanted to eat the icecream. Hummm... While Maddy mostly ignored the game, she loved it when the crowd got up and cheered and clapped. After the game we also got to enjoy some fireworks. Maddy loved them. She would occasionally clap and cheer, but mostly just stared at them wide eyed, mouth open.



Earlier we took Maddy to Old Mac Donalds farm. A mostly lame "zoo" where kids can look at farm animals. It's right in town, but I always forget it exists (probably due to it's lameness). The last time we were there was a little over a year ago. So we decided to take pics similar to the ones we took last year. My how Maddy has grown!!!



By the time the 4th actually came we were exhausted, but what kind of 4th of July is it with out eating some fried chicken and watching stuff blow up. We'd be unamerican if we didn't celebrate. So leading up to the 4th we had absolutely beautiful weather. Maddy and I both have farmer tans from our trips to the park to prove it.


So even though the weather report said 70% chance of rain, we went downtown to "camp out" and wait for the show. We enjoyed cloudy skies for long enough to sit and picnic... then some cops patroling the area told us that we maybe had 20 min before a serious storm was coming. Accepting defeat, we started to pack up. We felt some sprinkles and looked over the river to see a literal wall of water heading for us. 20 min quickly turned into 3 min. I threw Maddy in the stroller and booked it to the car. It was so rainy and windy Kylea's umbrella blew inside out and ripped, it was seriously like what you see in the movies. When we finally got in the car we were literally soaked... I could wring the water out of my clothes. The rain eventually stopped and the firework show went on as scheduled, but we gave up. We went home dried off and enjoyed the Macy's Fireworks and the illegal fireworks set off by our surrounding neighbors.


Before all the 4th of July craziness, we celebrated Karen's birthday. Maddy was very excited to eat the icecream cake!


Not only have all the celebrating been keeping us busy, but Maddy has been keeping us on our toes with her usual antics. Her newest catch phrase is, "No, No, I don't want too." She doesn't yell it, she just is stating her opinion. Right now find it cute and funny, I'm sure it's going to drive us insane soon enough. We've been enforcing time outs more and more, now anytime we tell her no to something, she puts herself in a time out... here she is facing the wall telling her self, "time out!"


Ever since we took Maddy to Toy Story 3, she's been in love with as she says, "Buzz-y, Whoody, and Cowgirl." She takes cowgirl everywhere.

Maddy's always enjoyed counting things. Lately, for some reason, she's really into counting her toes. One day she did it the whole ride home, then in the bathtub, and even as she lay in bed falling asleep.



Probably the most difficult thing of late, is weaning Maddy off of her binky. We've endured periods of over an hour of crying, cuddling in her bed until she sleeps, singing lullaby's for what seems like eternity and so forth. I just got her a new doll that is only for bed time and we are hoping it will help with the transition. Today was day one, nap one with the doll and it looks like it might work. Cross your fingers!!!!!