happy birthday USA

I've decided that trying to explain the fourth of july to a three year old is, frankly, impossible. we talk about the flag, our country, and read books about america the beautiful. heck, we even sing along to woody guthrie's this land is your land during some of our OnDemand viewing sessions. but when I try to come up with a preschool-friendly way to describe freedom and democracy, I'm (understandably) at a loss for age appropriate words. so I do what every great parent does...I excitedly tell him that today we get to dress up and eat cake and sing, "happy birthday USA!" take that 12th grade government teacher, ha.

I love that this holiday is so grand that it can just be called "the fourth" - no month needed and better yet? the fact that "the fourth" signifies the whole entire long weekend - as in, "what are you doing for the fourth?" 

this year mother nature was the gift that kept on giving. the weather for the fourth was spectacular. temps were in the upper 70s, humidity was non-existant, and the sky was a robin's egg blue speckled with a handful of puffy white clouds. love.

it's not important that he understand why we are celebrating this day, it's just important that we celebrate together. 

the fourth also gives us the chance to celebrate my wonderful grandma. the littlest ones know her as 'grandma sissy' or 'grandma thithy' if you're under the age of two.  she's 82 years young and looking mah-ve-lous. twenty-five years ago, she had us convinced that the fireworks were in honor of her birthday. in my opinion, they still are.

I was looking forward to oohing and aahing at the the multitudes of colorful fireworks that are such an integral part of the fourth. somehow this year's celebration fizzled fast and left only nana, papa, miles, henry, and me around for the fireworks extravaganza. kyle has made it quite clear that fireworks don't do anything for him. he also knows that I l.o.v.e. them and plan to pass that love onto our children. sorry charlie. when I stepped outside to set up our bag chairs I came in and declared that it was borderline criminal that everyone had gone home on what was the most beautiful night of the year. their excuse? it's a work night. boo. I'll see your work night and raise you an early morning wake up call with two energetic toddlers. boo-ya.

we let henny bug take in the fireworks show live via satellite, complete with musical choreography. thank you ABC.

note to self: purchase lens hood. yikes.
after he was tucked in bed, miles, nana, and I hopped in the van and took off for a late night snack at ronald mcdonalds. ice cream sundaes for the ladies and three fresh chocolate chip cookies for the little man. I'm sure I've mentioned that he doesn't eat ice cream. tragic.

papa emerged from the basement with a box o' fun that he picked up at the local fireworks stand. he set off maybe three fireworks before miles declared that he'd had enough and wanted to know who else wanted to go back inside. 

so I guess I'll have to postpone my dream of our little family lying on a blanket under the night sky admiring the vibrant colors and being mesmerized by the giant weeping willows (my favorite, of course) to july 4th, 2012. until then...happy birthday USA.

all things vacation

it has become a family tradition to embark on an annual family vacation in lieu of extravagant christmas gifts. I will proudly admit that I'd take this over another gift certificate any day.

there are few things more precious in this life than being in the company of those you love. spending six straight days with your parents, siblings, and in-laws might seem like too much for some, but there is a sort of magic in my family. we were frequently called the waltons when I was growing up. I will fess-up now and say that I have never, to this day, seen an episode of the show. however, I've gathered that this t.v. family rarely fought and were genuinely happy to be around one another. if that's not the case, I don't really care. you see, that definition describes my family to a tee.

we squabble, yes. we know how to push each other's buttons, yes. we enjoy razzing my baby brother for the umpteenth time about how us older kids were "shoved" aside when he came along (as evidenced in any home video you dig up from 1986), yes. but mostly we love to giggle about the same jokes and sit around the table playing games until the wee hours of morning.the annual family vacation gives us just the platform to do so.

the addition of little ones hasn't just made our family larger, it's made our family stronger. we love each other's children as though they were our own. we wait in anticipation for that next milestone or that next precious newborn baby and we celebrate it together. we often ask each other what in the world we did before we had kids to play with.

ok, so I'm sure we did a little more of this...

not even seventy-two hours of straight rain could dampen our spirits. sure it was wet and we were trapped in the house with four little boys, but we took advantage of it.
we cuddled.

we blew bubbles (in the rain, of course).

we played on the floor.

we employed every parent's necessary babysitter = public television.

and we found ourselves a little gem in the north woods. hello crosby community center! this wasn't your rinky-dink, run-of-the-mill YMCA. oh no. the place was loaded with a zero-entry pool, water slide, and basketball hoop. the entertainment possibilities increased exponentially and we were happy to indulge.

my oldest took to the water like oil last summer. he barely wanted to dip his toes into the lake. this year he became a fish. he couldn't get enough of the pool and begged to keep jumping in to daddy.

the bug l.o.v.e.d. everything about it. he was obsessed from the moment he felt the rough concrete pool deck on his soft little feet. he uttered, "I un thwim" over and over. cutest little lisp. ever.

mother nature eased up on us for the last couple of days and allowed the sun to peek out. I shouldn't say peek. it shone in all it's glory. so we packed up our lunch and headed across the lake for a picnic at the park. the warmer temperatures were a welcome change from the freezing fall-like weather we had endured for the previous few days.

take note of the age specs on this sign.

by the way, I'm pretty sure that if you stuffed me into a life jacket that severely inhibited the movement of my head and had a strap between my legs, I would not crack a smile.

let's be thankful that the little ones are oblivious to such conditions.

miles looked out over the water and declared that he was, in fact, "just like jake!" (in case you're unfamiliar with disney junior...check it out here.) it was precious. he sincerely thought that he was a pirate. I love preschoolers. he is just beginning to let his imagination run wild and take on the personas of his favorite fictional characters. his creative juices are flowing, baby.

we basked in the outdoors for the last day and a half of our trip. we collected bugs and pinecones,

had mini photo sessions,

put our feet up,

made foil dinners,

christened the new pint-sized camp chairs,

and sat quietly as we watched the sun dip behind the trees and give way to the cool crisp night that just beckoned for a warm fire and toasted marshmallows.

our ride home included a pit stop at my newest favorite old-fashioned burger joint, happy's. I instantly fell in love with the outdoor eating space, playground for the kiddies to enjoy, and no nonsense food. I suppose that the ice cream didn't hurt either.

we are already looking forward to next year's trip, complete with the very first granddaughter. woo hoo! (auntie robin has already begun shopping...)

I'm certain that this blog post contains quite enough photos for the general public to enjoy. however, there were a slew of great moments captured on film, so I figured I'd put together a little slideshow for my family (and whoever else wants to take a peek). enjoy.