The Great Slide, Fireworks, and Freedom

We ate to much food, stayed up to late, and had a lot of laughs with family and friends all over the 4th of July holiday and it was FABULOUS! Friday night we had family and friends over for dinner before making the few minute stroll to the park to watch our cities fireworks show. The Hill Family joined us to celebrate! I wish I could say Addyson was as happy to see them as we were. She threw a fit for AT LEAST an hour because their were BOYS in her room touching HER TOYS! We can only hope in ten year she throws such fits when BOYS are in her room! (oh wait, according to her daddy this scenario will NEVER happen) Anyways, our plan was to go over a little early so the kids could do some of the activities. Upon arriving the lines were crazy and being that I am the parent of a very impatient almost two year old their was NO way I was waiting in line for that long because sure as we got up their one of two things would happen:

1. She wouldn't even want to get in
2. She would get in and I would NEVER get her out

So, we opted against waiting in line for any bouncy time but their was....

THE GREAT SLIDE

This slide was inflatable and about 20 feet in the air. Of course the Hill boys wanted to slide and their was no way Addyson was going to be left out so I chose Uncle Matt to take her down the slide. What I didn't know at the time was they could only go down ONE AT A TIME! Why they even let kids that small go up if they can't slide down with an adult is beyond me but never the less she was 20 feet up in the air and the only way down was to slide and she was terrified! At this point, Addyson amazed me. She grabbed a hold of the side of the slide, stuck her feet in the crease, and inched her way ALL THE WAY DOWN!




Of course once she got to the bottom she said, "Again, mommy!" But it was time to get settled for the big show. Last year the fireworks didn't bother Addyson but this year was different. First she was unsure...



Then she was scared...



Thank goodness Aunt CoCo was their to save the day!

Of course, the boys weren't scared at all...




On Saturday, we packed up the Caldwell clan and headed to my grandpa's house to swim for a little while. Addyson has NO FEAR when it comes to the water. She has only swam three times this summer and she was jumping off the side of the pool and trying to swim by herself. Like mother, like daughter! My mom use to call me a "fish" when I was little. I loved the water, still do!





So, all in all the weekend was great! The weather was nice, the food was fattening and yummy and spending time with family and friends was awesome! I hope everyone else's weekend was great but let us not forget what the 4th is really about. It has nothing to do with BBQ or fireworks it is about celebrating our Independence and the men/women who sacrifice everything to allow us to stay that way. So, Thanks Uncle Matt, Opa, Uncle Eric, and the many others who serve our nation for dedicating your lives so that we continue to have a reason to get together every year in July and eat BBQ and watch Fireworks! We love you!