Unplanned

Growing up, my family made the Fourth of July a big deal.  We usually had an all-day-long barbecue with friends and family.  By early evening, we were packing up our blankets and stadium chairs and heading off to find the perfect spot to watch the fireworks.  I love the memories of this fun and very family-oriented holiday.  But somehow, we've never been able to carry that tradition with our family.  Some years we've been able to have a picnic;  other years we've done our own "fireworks."  Every year though, it's not really been planned and sort of thrown together at the last minute.  This year, a few weeks before Independence Day, I mentioned to the Nerd that this time I really wanted to lay down some plans and have a very memorable day.  Life happened, and before we knew it, the holiday was here, and we had no plans.  As usual.

 We decided to barbecue; then we nixed that plan and headed to Wendy's.  Yes, you heard that right.  We were celebrating in style, baby!  I did want to see the fireworks, but we needed to find a place that wouldn't freak out the Beast.  He loves fireworks but hates crowds and can easily get overwhelmed.  After some researching on the interwebs, we decided to ditch Portland's fireworks and head out toward the coast to Tillamook. 

 The Blue Heron French Cheese Company was hosting their own fireworks show.  When we got there, we were surprised to find it not very crowded at all.  Our parking space was just a couple fields away from the launching area.  We set up our stadium chairs right by the van (hello easy access to blankets and juice boxes!) and went off to check out the local entertainment. 

 The kids were thrilled to see a group of farm animals getting ready for bed.  Their favorite were the goats and the peacocks. 

 The face painting was a bit expensive;  so we went to check out the other entertainment and were happily surprised to find out that the bouncy house and the bouncy slide were free.  I patiently guided the very excited kids through the lines to these attractions while the Nerd got to hang out with this cutie. 

As it got darker, the Nerd hustled the kids back to the van to get cozy while I ordered a cappucino. We settled in our chairs while the older kids did sparklers, and then the show began.   I have to say I was pretty impressed with the fireworks - although I would have settled for a mediocre show just to have a happy, not-overly-stimulated kid with us.  The Beast stimmed like crazy and shrieked with joy at every single burst of color and noise.  Little Sprout was unfazed and spent the entire show searching my lap for cookie crumbs. 

It was a happy, happy Fourth.  We got back home incredibly late, but it was worth it.  We finally have a plan for next year! :)

The Saga Completed - Indiana, Ohio, and Home

(If you missed the first two parts of our epic journey, click here and here to read them first).

So we left Nebraska on Thursday night with plans to drive through the night and most of the next day to get to Indiana in time to spend some time with my youngest brother, his wife, and their new little addition. The drive through the night was successful - if you count hitting a raccoon successful. At least we were able to avoid all the deer, and apparently in that part of the country, they are everywhere! It must be a fun deer game to run across the road randomly in the middle of the night.

We reached little brother's house around 4:00 pm the next day. The kids were suitably impressed to see a police car parked in the driveway. (no worries, Uncle Matt was not in trouble - he is a policeman). We spent the evening enjoying grilled burgers, hot dogs, and corn on the cob while the kids tormented the two dogs. I got several chances to love on my newest chunky little nephew and chat it up with my sister-in-law. Although we were all tired, we wanted to spend as much time with family as possible before we had to leave for Ohio in the morning. We hit up the local mall for some play time and went to the Albanese Candy Factory, where the kids oohed and aahed over the chocolate fountain coming down from the ceiling and were thrilled to choose their own special gummy candy to take home.

The next morning, Matt took us to the Jelly Pancake House for a hearty breakfast before we continued our journey to Ohio. Can I just say YUM?! This place had the most amazing breakfast food - I loved my Mediterranean Frittata and my sister-in-law's Captain Crunch encrusted french toast looked divine! I had to get a couple of family pics after breakfast:

**the kids with little Logan**

**Uncle Matt and the offspring**

**me and my bigger little brother**

**my wonderful sis-in-law and me**

So from Indiana we journeyed on to Ohio, a much shorter trip in comparison to all the road time we had clocked already.

We spent the next week at the Nerd's brother's house, playing games and going shopping and running around outside with their newest addition, a tiny puppy named Nora.

We also got what we like to call our "bonus relative" - my older brother was in Columbus for a board game convention so we got to meet up for dinner and chatter. I forgot my camera for that unfortunately and am bummed that I didn't get any pictures of the kids with their Uncle Tom. Next time. . .

My sister-in-law Paula and I logged in a lot of hours shopping and walking around showing off the adorable puppy. On one particular hot day, we took the kids to the local outdoor mall so they could run through the fountains and cool off.

The kids especially enjoyed a Subway picnic at the park too. Our time in Ohio was relaxing and fun, and we got to spend it with the people we love.

All too soon, it was time to leave. Our vacation was over - well, except the fact that we now had to drive all the way back to Oregon! We left Ohio at night and drove over 1200 miles to get back to Nebraska to spend the night with Mom and Dad before finishing our journey. Poor Nerd was completely wiped out at this point and went right to sleep. The kids, Grammy and Pop, and I walked down the street to enjoy some fireworks with friends. Apparently in Nebraska anything and everything is legal when it comes to fireworks; so we saw quite the show. A couple of times I did fear for our lives, but it was fun all the same. We then used the next two days to drive back to Oregon, stopping at a hotel in Idaho for the night and fueling up our bodies and spirits at IHop. We came home to a clean house and a yummy spaghetti dinner, courtesy of my sweet in-laws.

And then we died of exhaustion. No, not really, but let's just say the 4th of July was a big "recovery" day for us. . .

Did You Have as Much Fun as We Did?

Hello all you people on the other side of the computer! This is the Drama Queen, guest-posting for my momma today. In case you are wondering about my mad typing skills as a four-year-old, I am just dictating this, thank you very much. If you were wondering about my excellent grammar, well, I just have a knack for it. Really and absolutely.

So how was your Independence Day celebration? I hope you didn't spend it inside watching Fresh Prince of Bel-air marathon (or whatever was on!) We had a great day! Momma let me wear my red cowgirl boots with my patriotic outfit, which was cool. She unfortunately also insisted on yanking all my hair up on top of my head into a ponytail with a red ribbon. She said she knows it hurts because Grammy did it to her too when she was little. I don't get it!

Momma tried to get a really and absolutely great picture of us on the church steps. She always does this when we are wearing matching outfits. I of course was listening and trying to keep my brothers in check, but you know brothers. Annoying!

See, when I'm by myself in the picture, it turns out great! (except The Spud's head is showing a little. Momma needs to crop him out!)

Momma said she will always treasure this picture because the Beast never sits still long enough! I don't really know what she meant but I laughed anyway. Grown-ups like it when you laugh at their jokes, and then they are much more willing to give you stuff.

After church, we had a barbeque right out in the parking lot. It was a lot of fun, and we stuffed ourselves with hot dogs, chips, cookies, and cupcakes. The Spud shared his food liberally with his clothes and his stroller. Haha! Again, I have no idea what that means, but just laugh, okay?

While we were eating, we got to see a whole bunch of people do different stuff on stage for us. There were people singing and reciting poetry and talking. It was cool. I liked when the big kids got up there and sang. Soon I'll be in school and I'll get to do that stuff too!

Momma and Daddy are not the greatest at planning our fireworks adventure each year. When they FINALLY decided where we were going to see fireworks, it was way too crowded, and there was no parking. I cried, but Daddy promised me we would get to see fireworks somehow. We went back home where Daddy set up a bunch of chairs and got out a big pack of fireworks and sparklers. I was really good at the sparklers - see how I am teaching the Beast how to do it right in the picture?

The Spud was a little scared; so he didn't do any sparklers with us. But he had fun watching us and the fireworks that Daddy set off. And, as it turns out, we were able to see a lot of fireworks in the sky through the trees near our house.

Here is another example of my awesome sparkler skills! It was so fun, and I am glad we had such a great day!

Let me know in the comments about your fun celebration and maybe even a link to your post about it. I love looking at the pictures, and Momma will read them to me.

Oh, and don't forget about Found It! Friday this week! The inspiration is daisies - here's hoping some more of you participate this week. :)