Well, we managed to have a fantastic 4th of July. The kids and I went up to the park, that's just down the street from our house, and enjoyed the town's 101st Freedom Fest. Even though we've only been living in this town a year, we've been coming to this celebration on and off for years. It first started way back when the kids were small, and we lived in this town then.
The park fills up with car shows, tractor shows, vendors, inflatables, and local bands for a day of fun, food, and small town togetherness.
We spent a couple of hours looking around, playing, and enjoying ourselves that can only be explained further with the pictures that I took...
Our first stop was to look at the animals that were on show by the Wilderness Safari that's located a little outside of town. They brought a trailer full of monkeys and had some more "farm friendly" animals for the kids to touch...
Jelly petting a calf, and as you can tell, not too sure about that...
Some bunnies...
And some piglets...
After that, Jelly took some time to enjoy the inflatables...
Then, we took a ride downtown on the back of a tractor wagon...
And before we left, the kids took a picture with the giant gorilla...
That was the end of the first trip up to the park, but after being there for a while, we were hot and ready for some swimming. The original plan was to come home, swim, eat dinner, and then go back to the park for the concert and fireworks that started at 7PM.
When I say that was the original plan, I mean the plan got changed a little. When I got home and discovered that EVERY. SINGLE. swim towel was ONCE AGAIN stuffed in the laundry basket to be washed, I may or may not have had a little baby tantrum and declared that I was NOT going swimming. I then went in to my room to "cool off" for a second, and the next thing I know Hubby was waking me up and telling me dinner was ready. And, low and behold ALL of the kids had to be woken up as well. Apparently, after my little fit, they all decided to lay low in their rooms and all fell asleep. So, even though we didn't swim, we did all enjoy a nap.
Hubby had grilled chicken and baked potatoes for us to eat, and after enjoying every bite of it, it was back to the park for a free concert and fireworks.
Jelly opted to go back on the water inflatables for a while...
Peanut and Butter were enjoying the nice weather and decent music...
And they even decided to have a little "planking" competition to amuse themselves...
Jelly made up a comfy spot on the grass when it was time to get ready for fireworks...
She didn't stay there long, though, and opted for a chair. She doesn't look very happy, but that's only because the flash caught her offguard...
The other kids kept a smile on their faces all night...
And finally it was time for the AMAZING fireworks. I'm only going to show two pictures, because the pictures I got don't do the fireworks any form of justice...
We had a great time, and despite my little fit throwing, enjoyed our entire day together.
Today is all about getting ready for our vacation. We're leaving bright and early tomorrow morning, so I have a lot to get done. I need to make sure everyone's clothes are clean, make sure everything we need is packed, run to the store and pick up the few essentials we need to take with us, and clean the house so that we can come home to a clean house.
I bet Hubby can't wait for us to all be gone. He has to stay behind, but that's like a vacation for him anyways. He'd much rather stay home and have an empty house than gallivant off with us to theme parks, shows, and water parks. Which, despite being sad he won't be there with us, I am relieved that someone will be here to watch the house and the cats while we are gone.
The kids are all uber excited. This is our first family getaway since Jelly was 6 months old... so about five and a half years. Even if we are only going to Branson, which is just a two hour drive from where we live, it's a vacation in their eyes. In all of our eyes. A giant resort, indoor water park, shows, miniature golf, and Silver Dollar City. And we even plan on doing some shopping at some point at the giant outlet mall I've never been to that's located in Branson.
Our trip was supposed to be three days and two nights, but I've already decided that we're going to add another night because there's just no way we can do everything we want without rushing and squeezing it in... so another night will help lift some of that.
I'm taking my iPad with me, so I might be doing some blogging while I'm away. Not making any promises, but I'm thinking in the evenings it will be nice to have something to do once all the fun of the day is over.
OK, can't spend anymore time sitting here...so much to do and so little time!!
Have a great Saturday, everyone!!
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