weekend of July 4th, 2011

We had so much fun for this Independence Day!  We started by watching Red, White and Boom Friday night.  We decided to find a park within view of the show and watch it.  We ordered pizza and were loading up our *new* van to search for a spot (we had no idea where we were headed) when we saw Jay. He asked where we were headed and they decided to join us.  It was all very spontaneous and fun.

First we drove down to the Audubon park but it was too crowded, we decided to go a bit away and found a spot at Rhodes Park.  We drove to the back of the park and if I were to do it again I would have tried to stay closer to the entrance as we had a tree in the way.  We did have plenty of space, however.  The Talbot boys found a friend to watch Thomas with even though he didn't speak any English.

Funny bit, when I took Kalia to the portapotty I was quite nervous that she would flip out when she saw the big hole.  She's been afraid of the power flush toilets found commercially.  She completely caught me off guard when we got in there, closed the door, lift the lid and she says "That's a good potty."  Ha! Seriously?

The fireworks were pretty cool, but we only got to see the highest part of the show.  Right before it started one of the vendors selling glow sticks was giving away the end of her stock.  The kids loved them and it took a bit to get their attention back once the show started.  We didn't have our radio on so we were just listening to the faint sounds from other cars.  I think the entrance of the park would have worked better.

Saturday we decided to enjoy some time in the great outdoors.  This little park is quite a jewel.  There's a walkway down to the falls with the stream running to the side of it.  We walked down and back halfway in the stream before getting back on the walkway.

 For Independence Day we headed up to the Dublin Parade.  It was overcast but warm and humid.  Here are our cute patriotic girls!

Waving a flag was always a big memory for me.  I was really excited to get one from one of the paraders.

We spent the afternoon together relaxing before heading out for fireworks.  We decided we'd brave the crowds to sit right below the show and it was definitely worth it.  It also helped that we escaped in record speed back to the car and on our way before most people were even standing up.  Kalia loved the fireworks and the fireflies beforehand.  Though nothing beats Amalyn's look of awe!  Too bad I didn't take the camera.

Tuesday we got a bonus day as Tristan's assignment for Ohio Project got confused landing him with the day off.  We took advantage to plan swimming, a picnic, and a cook out at Alum creek.  It was a great day to have together.

 View of the reservoir from our car snapped real quick before we left.  I'm working on getting things captured as we do them rather than as an afterthought. 

Our picnic tree where we enjoyed (or not) the other picnic-ers music at too loud a volume and invited by the neighbors to share their lunch just as we finished ours.

What a great weekend!