glow sticks and fireworks

hendrix enjoyed his 4th of july fireworks alot more this year than he did last year!  the fireworks were the night before in ames, which worked out really well because then we left for our family vacation early in the morning on the 4th and got to enjoy the festivities all over again in galena, where we were vacationing.  

we had some friends over to our place since we can just walk the block and a half to the park and have a great vantage point for the light show.  we had to get decked out in glow stick jewelry before we headed though, and hendrix was so happy to be hanging out with his friends!

hendrix took a random three-hour nap in the evening before we woke him up for the late-night fun which i think made a big impact on him enjoying the fireworks.  he is used to going to bed early and i was worried that he might have a meltdown otherwise.

while he was cautious, he was daring enough to hold onto the sparklers.  of course it looks like fun if the big kids are doing it!

i had made some red, white and blue strawberries to enjoy while we waited in the park, and i was glad for them as they made a nice refreshing treat on that hot, hot night.  once the sun went down it wasn't too bad, but up until that point i was just sweating.......

so once the show started, hendrix alternated between sitting on my lap, and snuggling up on the grass with his friends.  he didn't cry or act scared of them at all.  he even oowed and awed at his favorites, and clapped at the end like everyone else.  daddy had shown him some youtube videos of fireworks before we went, and we thought it might help him appreciate them better if he was prepared.  

he loved using the word 'fireworks'.  and kept saying, "mommy, look!"

daddy took some pretty cool photos of the fireworks while i was busy managing little guy, and i think they turned out really cool!

what a fun kickoff to our little family vacation!   

more to come on that soon.....

4th of july

Hendrix really enjoyed his first 4th of July.   The day was filled with lots of sunshine, bright colors, balloons, parades and food.  What's not to love?

It was our first year to spend this holiday in Ames just as a family and it was really nice.  The 4th is my dad's birthday so we generally have celebrated with him in our hometown, but this year we celebrated early with him and decided to start our own family traditions. 

We started out with the parade, meeting up with some friends to watch. 

Since Hendrix really enjoys people watching, the parade was fun for him, though it didn't take long before he decided that he should be walking around too!  He doesn't sit still for very long these days!

After a fun afternoon of swimming we welcomed some friends for a bbq and some fun playtime before the fireworks.  We live really close to where the fireworks go off so it seemed like a natural fit ;)

The kiddos liked playing in Hendrix's ball pit, and it was fun to see him warm up to it so much more when he saw other kids enjoying it.  Normally he seems a little bit nervous about all the balls, but he was all smiles!

He really loves having other kids around to play with. :)

Then the big kids played with fire while Hendrix took a lil' snooze to get all rested up for the big fireworks show.

I am not sure if it was because we woke him up to head to the fireworks, or if it was just because they were setting then off too close to where we were sitting (and thus they were too loud); but Hendrix hated the fireworks.  I was really surprised by his reaction, but he was scared and just kept crying.   So we headed home before they really even got going.

Oh well.  

We had a beautiful day, and since we only had to walk half a block home, we were still able to watch the end of the fireworks show through our window while Hendrix snuggled into my lap.

Happy first 4th of July, sweet boy!  

Maybe you will enjoy the fireworks next year!   ;)