7.05.2008

4th of July - again!

Since I was too tired to write it all up last night, here we go! We spent the early part of yesterday relaxing by ourselves, sleeping in a little (well, not Judah who woke up at his usual 6:30, but Nathan and I slept a little more while Judah watched cartoons and Micah didn't wake up until 11:30 - I'm not even kidding) and going for lunch at Taco Bell. Because nothing says America like Americanized Mexican food, right? After naps we headed for La Habra Heights and Dave and Julie's house where we hung out with the whole clan. The picture above isn't complete: besides the Little and Cowell families, Jaysen and Jessica and Jenna and Jake Humes and Jess and Joyce De La Ossa were there, and it was so much fun! Check out Jenna's blog for a picture of everyone together. Dave and Jess barbecued incredible carne asada, Joyce made refried beans to die for. Add in Spanish rice, fruit salad, homemade guacamole, vegies, and brownies and ice cream for dessert, and it was a perfect meal.
Before dinner all the kids ran around playing like crazy, spending a lot of time in the pool and on the slip and slide.
Judah had been looking forward to playing baseball in Dave's backyard all day, and he and Nathan were out there for quite a while. When Judah went off to some other amusement I took a turn as pitcher while Nathan batted. Let's just say that I'm not Dodger material, so Nathan spent a lot of time jumping around, swinging the bat in all directions to hit my very erratic pitches. It looked a little like baseball ballet!
Here's the fam at dinner on the patio.......
And one of Dave's famous "eating" shots.
After dinner the four of us left to meet up with the Cowell and Stokes families at a park in Yorba Linda for more food and fireworks. We loaded Judah up with glow sticks so we could see him more easily if he ran off. He loved them and used a couple of them as drum sticks. But the real trick to finding your child in this crowd was to NOT dress him in a red shirt. Seriously, it seemed like every boy there was wearing a red shirt and denim shorts and had blond hair. Next year Judah will wear bright yellow or something.
Micah had a great time being hauled around by Rachel and Naomi and playing with them on the blankets. He liked the glow sticks too. He liked to chew on them.
We managed to get one shot of just our family. It's not a great one, but it's the best we could hope for at the end of a long day. At least no one's screaming.
Judah is traditionally terrified of fireworks. And by terrified I mean shaking, sweating, screaming panic. This year we borrowed some of Ken's "ears" that he uses when he's working with loud machines. Judah's worn them before, to a monster truck rally, and now he kind of thinks they're magic. We hyped up the fireworks for days beforehand, gave him some ears, and hoped for the best. They totally did the trick. He was still a little afraid at first, but a few minutes in he was super excited, though he remained cuddled very close to Nathan. Micah did great, sitting in my lap, sucking his thumb (WAY past bedtime at that point), and watching, wide-eyed. At one point he took his thumb out of his mouth to laugh at all the light and noise. So cute.
And one last firework shot. What a perfect end to a perfect day!

1 comment:

Jenna said...

I had a great time, too!

Looks like you guys found some good fireworks - I love Judah's "ears."