The Lee Family: Happy 4th of July!

We celebrated the 4th of July much as we have the past few years. We met over at Aunt and Uncle's at 8am and headed up to the Plaza to get in the long line for pancakes. Once there, we found our "usual" spot on the grass and set up the folding chairs and stroller in a circle while Uncle Steve and CK got into line. Surprisingly, it moved pretty quickly and before we knew it we had hot delicious pancakes in our hands. They were a little dough, as they have been in years past, but good and enjoyable. On the stage a band played John Philip Sousa music and the whole Plaza area was over-run with families, old hippies, somewhat down-on-their-luck guys, visitors and obvious locals. It's quite the scene at the Plaza, especially on the 4th. After pancakes, Uncle Steve took Sofia to find the "balloon guy" who makes balloon animals that Sofia loves. They were gone a long time but never found him. Then at some point CK and Uncle Steve walked through the car show at the far end of the Plaza while Aunt Shirl and I stayed in our chairs and watched Sofia and Olivia play with a group of girls on the grass. They had a great time and before too long Sofia was giving Olivia "horse" rides - one of Olivia's favorite things. Eventually, Aunt Shirl and I got hungry again and went to get a fajita from one of the little stands and returned to find Olivia fast asleep in Uncle Steve's arms! I couldn't believe it! I think I can count on one hand how many times Olivia has fallen asleep in my arms in her life! She slept peacefully for maybe 30 minutes, stretch and was awake. The perfect cat nap. Olivia loved going to the pavilion and stage and watching/listening to the patriotic music and kept wanting to go back after we returned to our little patch of grass. Finally after being there for several hours, we headed back to our respective casitas.

Uncle Steve wanted to make a strawberry and blueberry pie while everyone in our casita slept. CK and Sofia slept in our room, I actually slept for two hours on the couch and Olivia slept in her pack-n-play for two hours! It felt great to get that much sleep and I felt like a new person! Knowing we'd be up late to watch fireworks, it was perfect that the kids - especially Olivia - got a solid nap.

We headed over to the casita around 5pm and Uncle Steve grilled chicken and Aunt Shirl had a green salad and potato salad ready which were all delicious. Of course, we then followed it up with that amazing strawberry and blueberry pie and vanilla ice cream! YUM! Before we knew it, we were heading off to watch the fireworks. They were set to go off in a new location so we sort of were guessing as to where to park so that we had a good view but could also make a good escape once they were over. We found our spot and set up the folding chairs and waited until 9pm when they were scheduled to start....finally when it was almost 10pm we folded up our chairs. Many others decided to leave just before we did, so we figured it wasn't going to happen or we had bad information or something. As we packed the car, Sofia started saying "Oh that one's pretty" and "Oh, look at that green one." We turned around and there they were! We walked back to our original spot and watched the display. Sofia LOVED it and Olivia watched but gave no obvious feeling one way or the other. It wasn't the best display we've seen but it was good and we were so glad we didn't leave 5 minutes earlier! Once they were done we got in the car and headed to our casitas and bed. We were all tired out after such a long and very fun 4th!

Heading to the Plaza...Sofia is sitting on the chairs that are resting on the back of the bike. She loved it.