Forth of July Weekend: Part 1

This is the first post of my “July 4th” couplet. I actually wrote this the morning of July 4th. So it reads like it was written “today” but actually, it was a few days ago.

I had planned on taking Morgan out yesterday morning for some one on one time but when I told her about it Friday evening, she was extremely upset that Abigail wouldn’t be coming. She begged and pleaded until I agreed that Abby could come. I mean it’s about her and if she wants her sister along, great!

The plan was for my friend to pick us up at 9:10 so I could take them to the 9:40 showing of Toy Story 3 (in 3-D : The “only way to see a movie”, according to Morgan). So naturally I overslept. See, most days I’m up between 7 and 8am because Ethan is usually up by around then, dh has to work, Morgan has school, all that stuff. So it’s generally pretty unlikely that I’ll oversleep. It’s only when I really NEED to be up early that it’s ever a problem!

Well Abigail was SO excited about seeing a movie and fireworks that she woke up and couldn’t go back to sleep. So at 6:30 I was sort of conscious, trying to convince Abby to cuddle with me because it was too early to be awake! I swear I only shut my eyes for a minute! I awoke to my friend helping my kids to get dressed. My first thought was that I was surprised she was here so early! This particular friend does not love mornings! When I blearily asked her what time it was, I learned to my horror that it was 9:15!! Crappity Crap Crap! Somehow I managed to get up and dressed and ready to walk out the door in 10minutes. That had a lot to do with the fact that Aunty went ahead and took care of the girls while I stumbled groggily around trying to convince my brain that it really was time to wake up. I didn’t even get coffee before leaving.

Anyway, I share this so that I can tell you that I won’t be winning any “Mother of the Year” awards today. My girls had Popcorn, Nachos and Coke Zero for breakfast. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I think $14.50 for three bloody snacks (we didn’t even get larges!) is effing highway robbery. I felt like shouting “HELP! RAPE! RAPE! at the register. I must’ve made a disbelieving noise when the cashier gave me the total because he laughed and said, “I need a badge that says, ‘I just work here’.” I was like, “Oh have people been complaining?” GEE I WONDER WHY. They changed around how they do concessions there and it’s like being in a huge cafeteria. It’s completely ridiculous and now they’re charging us obscene prices to pay for it and NONE OF US HAD A PROBLEM WITH THE WAY IT WAS BEFORE!!! But I said none of these things, I just laughed and mumbled something about how being the front man sucks and continued on the mad dash to get in the theater before the previews were over. We just made it, the kids didn’t notice we’d missed a couple of minutes.

The girls enjoyed the movie, though Abby lost her glasses within the first five minutes and wouldn’t keep mine on because they are so much too big they’re overwhelming. I thought it was ok. It certainly had some funny moments and the ending was sweet. Morgan wanted to go right back in and watch it again but settled for promises to buy it on DVD when it came out.

In the evening, we all went to see the fireworks display at a local high-school. It’s probably the best fireworks display in the area but for some odd reason, they decided to do it on the 3rd instead of the 4th. We had such a good time! I even ran into an old friend! (Sarah, your children are all so big and beautiful! You must be so proud of them. You guys looked great!)
The kids had so much fun at the show last night. Abigail jumped up and down with almost every big blaze and clapped her hands and squealed. She kept trying to reach out and touch the “sparklies”. It was precious. At one point she curled up in my lap and sang to herself (that’s how I really know she’s happy, when she starts singing, it’s so freaking adorable). Morgan ran around like crazy, making “friends” left and right. It was a beautiful, perfect evening for fireworks. It wasn’t too hot, wasn’t too cool, the sky was clear and there was a lovely breeze. Oh and I had the best kettle corn I’ve ever had in my life!

Ever had one of those moments when you’re perfectly content? That’s how I felt last night. I had two little babes in my lap (Abigail and Ethan) and Abby was singing to herself and Ethan was giggling at me and the fireworks were booming and my husband was smiling and Grammy and Morgan were snuggled together on a blanket and one of my best friends was sitting with us and it was just…perfect.

After we got home and settled all of our exhausted children down, Tony and I stayed up way too late watching episodes of Arrested Development (an absolutely hilarious show). It was pretty much the perfect ending to a wonderful day.