A Fabulous 4th of July!

This is our first 4th of July in the US since '06, and we hadn't made any plans. It was forecast to be hot, and with a munchkin under a month old, you don't really want to spend the day out in sun, at the beach or a park.

I had heard about the small parade that takes place on 53rd in Hyde Park, just a short distance from our house, but Jake hates parades - in fact we've never been to one together - so I was thinking we wouldn't be attending. But I really thought Big A (our eldest) might enjoy it, so we loaded up the car and drove a few blocks north (to minimize our walk/sun time in the 90 degrees!), and got a great parking spot at the park where the parade was to finish. The street had plenty of cute little families waiting for the parade to start, but it was far from crowded (a big sigh of relief from my people-hating hubby). We had a little time to kill, so Jake bought me an iced coffee and we found a nice shaddy spot to set up camp. A few minutes later the fire truck was crawling past us with siren blaring. Big A was awe struck and waved enthusiastically at the firefighters. Little A slept soundly in my arms. Then there were loads of bands, bagpipers, majorettes, drill teams, and ended with tons of children & parents with their bikes and strollers decorated with patriotic streamers and ribbons. It was perfect.

Then we headed back to the park where there were pony rides, a bouncy house, live music, a playground, balloons, and plenty of shade. We met up our neighbors who have a lovely little boy that Big A is smitten with. They stroked the horses, ran through the trees, and had a romp around the play ground. We all started to get a bit toasty, so we headed home for some A/C and naps all around.

Early evening we all headed upstairs to our neighbors house for a "BBQ". Seeing that neither of us possess a grill, we resorted to burgers on the grill pan, and my oh my, was it good. Sided with oven fries, fresh kale, coleslaw, corn on the cob, and berry shortcake for dessert. Plus Pimm's and mojitos. What more could you ask for?!?!? Little A slept all through dinner, so I actually got to enjoy the meal! We played a little Mario Kart on the Wii, the love-struck munchkins took an adorable little bath together. After a couple stories, they were both ready for bed, so we headed back downstairs. Big A was asleep moments after her little head hit the bed. Totally and completely tuckered out.

The only cruddy part of the day is knowing that our fantastic neighbors whose little boy is the perfect playmate for Big A, are moving at the end of the month. Bah! But that aside, it was low-key, mellow kind of day, and the only fireworks I saw were the ones that happened to make it up past the brownstone across the street, but all in all, it was probably my favorite 4th, ever.