Independence Day Festivities

I'm not sure why, but we don't seem to have many traditions for the smaller holidays, like Independence Day, Labor Day or Memorial Day. Maybe part of it is because we live far from most of our families and another part that we are not too fabulous about planning in advance.
So I was very thrilled when we had such a great Independence weekend.

We started off Saturday with a double date with Ian and Serena out to breakfast. Wow. It was so AWESOME to hang out without any distractions, such as needy or disobedient children. We walked around the Provo Farmers Market and later shared Salads with our families.

On Monday, Brad had a project he wanted to work on, so I figured we weren't doing anything, which bummed me out. But Brad finished his project and announced, "Let's play for the rest of the day!" Music to my ears! We went to Provo Beach resort and gave each of the (older) children $5 to spend any way they wanted. They could keep it, spend it, buy candy, whatever. They had so much fun and we had fun too. I feel like I don't often get to do things like that for the kids, because we are often focused on helping Noah not have an issue with entitlement, so it's so fun when we can do that kind of stuff.

The kids loved the carousel. Amalie had been dreaming of riding it ever since we came and walked around Provo Beach resort a few months back.


Amalie and Gabe played in Toddler Town almost the whole time, while Brad and Noah had a blast at the bigger kids' playground. Noah was so excited, he took me upstairs to show me all the cool things he got to do, like ride a mini zipline, climb four stories to the top and slide down. Whee! There was hardly anyone there so it was an extra special treat.

Then we went outside and let the kids play in the water. Gabriel was the most fun to watch. I think "glee" would be a good word to describe how he appeared to be feeling. It was as though his body was a vessel filled with joy, overflowing in the form of giggles and smiles. What a joy it is for me to see my children so filled with joy, with giddiness, with delight.

Stomp, stomp, stomp. There was another little toddler in the water, and Gabe kept running up to him and giggling, as if to say, "Isn't this the greatest?"

And we end with the adorable couple who made it all happen. Thanks honey, for recognizing how much I need to go out and have FUN!

That night, the children got an extra special treat- we had not let them stay up for fireworks, because crankiness reigns supreme when we do and they won't take nappos. But on Saturday nite, at ten pm, we could see the show from the Stadium of Fire, so Brad woke Noah up to watch it. He loved it, of course. And we were so glad he got to see it without having him stay up all night. I felt a little bad that Amalie hadn't gotten to see it as well. But, the folks in our surrounding neighborhood put on a dazzling show on Monday night that the kids could see from their bedroom window. They LOVED it. And I loved hearing "Whoa. "WHOA!" "WHOA, WHOA!" echoing from their room. It was such a beautiful sound to hear the delight in their voices.

Grateful for our country's independence and religious freedom. And grateful for holidays when my hubby can stay home from work and we can PLAY!