independence day 2016

We started off the day at a church breakfast.  It was rainy and wet, so it was unbelievably humid.  My mom bought the boys super cute shirts that got so dirty at breakfast.

Fireworks here are totally banned.  I did happen to bring some poppers I bought in Utah.  TJ thought they were scary, but he liked watching Eli and Dad do them on the porch.  Eli was hysterical.  He loved them!  He laughed every time one snapped.

After breakfast was naps, then we went to the pool here.  They have those little camping grills installed on the patio by the pool, so the boys and I swam while Tyler grilled hamburgers and hot dogs.  It was a fun idea but it took like six trips back to the apartment because we kept forgetting things.  The food was so good though.

The kids were pretty wild while we ate.  Afterwards I was roasting a marshmallow when TJ ran and jumped into the pool and almost drowned.  We had taken off his life vest so he could eat and apparently he didn't realize he needs it to swim!  Tyler jumped in and saved the day, just as Eli waddled up and fell in the pool face first.   I was running after him but Tyler was right there so he pretty much saved both our kids from drowning in less than a minute.  Go super dad!  

After that TJ was afraid of the pool.  After we made sure he was okay, we put his floaties on and made him get back in the water and explained how the floaties helped him swim but without them it wasn't safe.  Then he was fine.  But he keeps telling me about the time he fell in the pool.  "TJ fall down pool!  TJ ok."

We went home and did early baths.  Around seven we packed up and headed to the firework show.  Since fireworks are banned, almost every little suburb of Dallas does a show.  We are right between Richardson and Garland, so we had two nearby.  We picked the one with the earlier start time and headed out.

The fireworks started just after nine.  That is so late for my kids but it was totally worth it.  We had a hard time deciding if it was worth keeping them up for.  I showed TJ a video of fireworks and he got so excited.  He kepting asking "mas fireworks?" and when I told him we were going to a firework show he repeated all night, "Going to see fireworks!"

There were tons of fun activities, booths everywhere, food trucks, and lots of people. 

 The boys were pretty zoned out.  We pushed them around and they were really good while we looked at everything.

After it got dark they hit their second wind and decided this was fun and they wanted to run around!

 

As usual, Eli loved it from the outset.  He laughed and giggled the entire time.  Right at the end he started to lose interest and wander around.  TJ was scared and wanted to run away, but I put him on my lap and covered his ears with my hands.  After about ten minutes I put my hands down and he spent the rest of the show saying "Fire works!  Fire works!"

Both the boys fell asleep on the drive home and slept an hour later than usual and slept an extra hour at nap time the next day.  It was a very full day for us, and I'm so glad we got to do so many fun things!