The Fourth

So, this post would be better if I had taken pictures on the fourth of July, but I did not. The night before the fourth, on the third, I had the stomach flu and it was awful. We were supposed to wake up early on the fourth and go and see the balloons launch with Marie's family, but since I had been up all night, sick, we cancelled. Which turned out to be okay since Marie reported that the balloons didn't launch due to bad weather.

So, for most of the fourth, we stayed home and recouped a little bit. Then, later in the day, we went to Momma Kimball's for the annual barbecue and fireworks. Momma Kimball lives a couple of blocks from the stadium of fire, so we always go to her house to watch the show.

I was still feeling pretty sick, but stuck it out and went to the family event and tried to avoid people. But, I had already been with the Kimball's the day before to take pictures... so... they were all doomed to get the stomach flu. Which they did. My bad. It was not my intent to get people sick but it is a little late for that. Sorry to all the people I got sick! *cough Marie* I was just feeling crummy and weak, so I spent most of the day on the couch while the kids played outside with their cousins.

So, we were a little nervous about doing fireworks with Nicole because she has a fear of loud noises and we have learned that it doesn't take much for her to get over stimulated and have a meltdown. But, we were both surprised that she was able to handle it quite well. When the fireworks started, she started laughing maniacally and started running around aimlessly (over stimulated), but there was no crying. She seemed to really enjoy them. Dan, on the other hand, was freaked out. The aerial fireworks in the neighborhood (before the stadium of fire) scared him and he cried and cried and clung to Matt or to me and did not want to let go. He had a little baby death grip. Which I didn't mind too much because I just pretended that he wanted to give me snuggles, which I love. But, he eventually got used to them because he slept on the lawn through the stadiums fireworks. I was so pleased that there were no major meltdowns about the fireworks and we got to just enjoy them. Plus, Dano snuggles are so nice.

One of the things that I don't like about the stadium fireworks is that they don't start until 10:30pm, which is super late for the kids. And, when we watch them at Momma Kimball's we get stuck there because of traffic. After the stadium lets out, Momma Kimball's street is immediately packed and not moving. We tried, this year to get out just after the fireworks ended... unsuccessfully. We ended up parking two houses down and walking back to Momma Kimball's to wait out the traffic. We were there until 1am and then we went home. Even though I enjoy the fireworks, I hate the traffic... and I hate keeping the kids up that late. After the events of the fourth, the kids were off schedule for a few days and it was unfun.

On the fifth, it was like the day of recuperation. We slept in, then we went to Freedom Days for an hour, only to return home and sleep for a really long time. We had wanted to have someone over for dinner because Matt had the night off from work, his first night off in the year he has been working there. But, we were too late in inviting and no one could come. Which was disappointing. It felt like a waste of a night, but it turned out for the best because Matt ended up with the stomach flu that night. One of us gets it and we all get it. Nicole ended up with it the next day. So, our fourth weekend was filled with sickness and Matt's very first night off from work ended in him staying up all night anyway... being sick. Bummer.

It seems like we are often sick on holidays. Last year, my family was all here for Christmas, but I missed almost all the festivities because the kids had croup and I had bronchitis. I hate it when people tell me that it is good that the kids get sick so much because that means that they won't get sick as much as adults. That is a bunch of BULL! I was sick all the time as a child and my Mom would tell me that I was building my immune system. So untrue. I get sick just as much as an adult as I did as a child. I am prone to catching sickness.