The 4th That Was

It was a great 4th...with parades, zoo time, dinner eaten outside on a nice patio (as you do) and some time at the lake. 

How do you know you live in Iowa and you've gone to a small town for a parade???...horses, tractors and you get popsicles thrown at you to cool off. And it was great. 

She's the only one that would let me take their picture with the statues at the zoo. He was to distracted holding on for dear life on the carousel to notice the picture. 

At the lake to wrap up the weekend. It was hot and sunny and the boat watching was pretty good. Payton is turning all golden from being outside. I started calling her my little baked potato which she isn't too sure about yet. 

Parker spent time digging in the sand but also he went into the water. Let me repeat...Parker went into the water. In. Up to his armpits. In water. (Victory!)

He was also overheard saying after a boy made a comment about his g-button "he doesn't know it's hard for me sometimes and I have to practice". (Victory!)

And for a minute, right before he had a meltdown, he did good. (You can't win them all)

Happy (& Unhappy) 4th!

We started last week with our first ever movie at the theater! We went to see Monster's University with our friend Honor. We did have some popcorn and some Sprite (big deal for kids who don't drink pop!). I was a little worried, especially with Parker, for how he would deal with everything. He sat with Honor and he asked lots of questions and talk about what was happening a lot. For a movie that's almost 2 hours,  he did really well until asking to go home the last 20 minutes or so. Payton did just fine, except for asking lots of "what happened?" and a few bathroom breaks. Having it be characters they already know and like I think totally helped. Movie success!

Monday afternoon we were taken out of our movie high by getting the call that Payton had spiked a fever of 103.

She spent the next 2 full days home from school and having a rolling fever. Then what started as a good morning on the 4th of July...

quickly turned into her being a wet noodle again and a trip for her and I to the ER. She was quite the hit with her fancy 4th of July dress. Her strep test was negative. They decided she had a virus and a seriously monster case of thrush. She's better and no fever but she's still being a little goofy so I'm guessing we'll be in to see our regular doctor this week.

Friday everyone was back to school for the day, where they had a little 4th of July hangover and finished up some special crafts for the week.

Here's hoping for a quieter week!!!

4th of July Recap

We stayed pretty mellow for the 4th. They don't do so well with loud noises (especially Parker) so we hit a local gathering at the Dodge House, then came home for lunch, water fight and fireworks that consisted mostly of snakes and smoke bombs. Some people who have seen these have asked where the hats (and Parker's vest) came from. The answer is my wonderful mother-in-law, Nancy...otherwise known as Nana.