It's Independence Day

Wow, what a weekend! We arrived in Madison on Friday afternoon (with our 8 month old niece traveling with us....that was FUN, seriously!!). Our first goal was to set up our sleeping quarters knowing that we wouldn't get back there till well after bedtime. Matt blew up 3 air mattresses and put sheets on all the beds while I gave Ainsley a bottle. Then we headed off to a cookout and to watch the parade. Matt's cousin Chelsea was in the parade, so the highlight of the evening was to yell at her until she looked like she'd like the pavement to open up and swallow her (secretly, I'm sure she was thrilled with the attention though). As planned, we arrived "home" dirty and tired. After a quick shower for the kids, they were in bed and Shannon and I were off to the store.

Saturday daytime was lovely.....super hot, sticky, and full of whiny kids. But, we did manage to find some fun even with the heat. I made pancakes for everyone for breakfast, then the 4 of us walked downtown to find some coffee. We found a yummy coffeehouse and then decided to walk to the fountain to enjoy it, little did we know that there was a wonderful farmer's market set up around the fountain. So, after purchasing some cinnamon rolls from the Amish for breakfast Sunday and a cute little water bottle holder for me and Delaney, we roamed downtown for a while dodging in and out of the heat in some cute little antique/crafty shops. After a sweaty walk to the river we decided to have a nice quiet lunch at the house and then lay down for a while and read while Matt ran to the store to buy some flipflops (he'd already broke 2 pairs in the 24 hours we'd been there!). After a short rest, Matt came home and we walked downtown again (luckily it's only a few blocks!!) to see Shrek Forever After and enjoy some ice cream. After a lovely dinner of anything we could make after raiding my father-in-law's garden (fried potatoes and onions, coleslaw, and hot dogs....those weren't growing, don't worry), we headed down to the river for the fireworks.

Carson went equipped with an "ipod" and huge earphones and he did a great job. He was being contrary about having his picture taken, he really wasn't trying to block out that much noise. The fireworks weren't as loud as I remembered them being, so he even ventured out from under the protection of the tent to watch some of them.

Sunday morning found us with one TIRED girl. She slept through all of us getting up, Matt tearing down everyone else's bed and packing most of it up, and me packing up bags. She finally moved around 10 o'clock. We loaded up the van and headed down to the river for the day, well, after enjoying some yummy cinnamon rolls!

It was a super steamy day, but we had a blast. We watched the airshow, notice the plane coming out from under the bridge that was right in front of us. Both of the kids (and the adults) enjoyed that trick. Then we went to find some "fair food" for lunch. Yum ~ fried veggies!!

Did I mention it was hot out???

The day ended perfect with boat racing and rock skipping/throwing. Matt throws a rock up on the same ledge every summer, so we watch while he takes his few warm up shots and then nails it. This year, Carson was trying to join in the fun....some day, it will happen.

Thanks to Grandpa opening up his home to us again, we had an awesome 4th of July weekend. Wonderful memories were made and the kids are already planning for next year.