Vacation, part five...Fourth of July

The Fourth was as close as I can get to a perfect day for me.  It was the only day of our entire two week vacation that everyone slept in.  Yep, I didn't crack open an eye lid until 7:30 am!!  LO and NB awoke right around there too, so we were all feeling pretty rested.  After breakfast, I took NB out in the stroller so DH could get LO suited up and lathered with sunscreen.  While on our stroll a woman commented "of the hundreds of people we saw on the boardwalk yesterday, I recognize your baby...it's all about that hair."  Newsflash, we had a red head.  The whole world wants to talk about it.  Makes me smile. A couple of corners later I saw a hand written poster board that announced a bike parade would be that day at 5 pm starting just two doors down from where we were staying.  When we returned to the house, our neighbor encouraged us to participate sans bike.  We could just push the stroller she said.  So tentative plans were made.

DH headed out with the boys while I gathered our essentials and got myself ready.  I made it out about 9:30 am to find DH was "watching those shells."  Huh?  Apparently DH and another man had been tasked with guarding a proposal written in seashells.  The would-be-bride's family had helped construct it and they were grabbing coffee (for an hour!!) while DH sat watch.  A sucker for such things, I hopped right on that task, but it did get a little old.  The family arrived a little more than an hour later, but the couple did not make their way to the sea shells for another 45 minutes.  When it finally happened, though, the whole beach cheered.  Ahh, young love is so sweet to watch.  This couple looked REALLY young (in their 20's?) which made me feel REALLY old.  I was ok with that.  I was also ok with being able to hang with my big boy instead of a bunch of shells.

LO and I hung out at the beach for the next several hours.  We dug holes, jumped in the slightly warmer waves, thwarted pesky seagulls while eating a picnic lunch, flew a kite, and ate ice cream from the ice cream man.   It was a great time.  When NB woke up, he and DH headed back out.  DH got to see LO flying the kite by himself which made LO pretty proud.  DH said he could see the kite from al the way back at the house.  It was so high!  About half an hour later, DH kindly took LO back to the house for nap, and I got to stay out with NB for a little while.  We played in the mud and let the waves crash on our legs.  It was probably the most time he and I had on the shore the whole trip.  It was nice that the water was a little warmer, and he seemed to have a great time in it.  After LO's brief nap, NB and I headed in for his second nap.  We had had this same rhythm to our days the whole week, but this was the first time NB had made it back out to the beach in the afternoon.  It was also the first time DH let me stay out all day.  I think he enjoyed taking full advantage of the cable TV and nap time, so it wasn't too much of a sacrifice for him. After NB and I made it back in, I put NB down while DH went to schlep our beach stuff in.  I hopped in the shower and LO and DH hung out on the porch.  When I stepped out of the shower it was 4:58 pm and I could hear people cheering outside.  Oops, the bike parade was about to start.  I hurried outside to watch with LO.  At the last minute, he decided he wanted to ride in the parade, so DH hustled to get the stroller.  I'm so glad he did because this little parade was about as American as you could get.  It was so sweet to be a part of it.  As we walked down to the crowd there were  hundred or so kids on bikes they had decorated for the occasion.  The crowd started singing "God Bless America," then patriotic music started blasting from the lead car and the bikes were off.

The bike parade getting started

LO and I in the bike parade.  We snagged the flag from the neighbor's yard since we were unprepared. 

 Tween boys were at the corners of the route blocking traffic and all the neighbors and parents were out cheering.  As we finished our lap around the block the kids were given goodie bags, then everyone dispersed.  It took all of about 15 minutes, but it was really very neat.  LO was, of course, excited about his treat bag.  We let him chose one piece to have right away, and he danced around on the porch enjoying it.

LO dancing with his parade treat.

more dancing....

LO with his new back loader garbage truck

 Toona and Gido arrived a short time later, and NB woke from his nap.  

One tired NB on 4th of July

We all gathered on Uncle Joe's rooftop porch to enjoy dinner together in the gorgeous weather.  It felt especially festive to note the other families on their nearby rooftops doing the same.  After dinner, DH and I readied the boys for bed, then DH sent me off to watch fireworks on the boardwalk with directions to bring home Rita's (italian ice) afterwards.

One delirious NB on 4th of July

 When I left the house though, I noticed everyone seemed to just be walking to the beach (rather than the boardwalk).  When I asked, they said we could see the boardwalk fireworks from there as well as two other displays in neighboring towns.  That sounded perfect to me, so I grabbed a chair and walked the much shorter distance to the beach.  I sat up on a dune close to the exit and enjoyed watching the other families visit, children playing in the dusk, enjoying being up way past bed time.  It was such a great setup that I was tempted to call DH and ask him to get LO.  I thought the fireworks would be far enough away that they wouldn't scare him and he would really have loved the setting.  I opted not to though, mostly because I wasn't certain that he wouldn't be scared.  He has years left to see fireworks.  So I waited, and the shows finally began, all three of them, at about 9 pm.  They were great shows for small towns, made even better by the sound of the surf, and just enough crowd to feel festive, but not enough to feel crowded. As the last firework faded from the sky, I was glad to have been so close to an exit as everyone headed right for it.  I made my way out easily, then walked to the local ice cream place.  We had not tried it yet, but I beat the rush enough to have time to contemplate flavors.  I brought one home for DH in a waffle cone with jimmies hoping it would be enough of a treat  to make up for potentially sleep-distrubed boy drama at the house.  It turned out there was none.  They stirred a little, but stayed put.  DH and I enjoyed homemade ice cream, then hit the hay.  It was a really great day.