Oh TOODLES!

The Fourth of July is traditionally a holiday that we spend with Aaron's family. It used to be that two of his sisters lived in the same small town where his parents own a motel - convenient! We could all gather there, get free rooms, and have our own space. Even better is that the motel has an apartment below the manager's house, and we've claimed it as our residence when in town, by right of having the most small children. Believe me, having that extra bedroom and a place to watch TV when the baby is sleeping makes a world of difference in the quality of our vacation.

What do the kids like best? The virtually unlimited Disney channel. Also, Adam can eat whole grapes and pluck them right of the stem! How handy is THAT?

Yes, I outfit the family in matching outfits. Kinda. Mine was the only one not coordinated, but see how I hid behind the kids? My blue shirt blends in perfectly! MUAH HAHA!

But this? This is the future "world's most patriotic baby" photo contest winner.

I was sure that Ben and possibly Leah would be watching the fireworks from the house, but my nephew A's girlfriend W saved the day. Ben started the weekend being afraid of her, but as you can see, that didn't last long. It helped that she was nice, played with the kids, and is rather pretty. Ben learned a new word - girlfriend- , though, after he kept calling her A's "babysitter". Can you blame him? The only non-family girls of that age that he knows have been paid to hang out with him. Now, if A starts doing the same, we have a problem.


Instead of hiding in the house, the kids spent the evening covering their ears. And waiting for these ginormous sparklers to burn out.

Breaking the first rule of sparklers: DON'T POINT THEM AT EACH OTHER. Unfortunately, there are about 12 other rules after that one. But how many trips to the emergency room did we have? Oh yeah - ZERO. Boo yah!

On the way back home, we stopped for lunch at Perkins. And for some crazy reason, after sitting for almost 3 hours and sleeping for two of them, Adam didn't want to sit in his high chair and play the good baby. No. He wanted to be climbing around and touching everything in sight.

This included the sugar packets and creamer cups. I kept a close eye on those packets, sure that he'd try to get them into his mouth. But he lulled me into complacency, and while we waiting for our orders, there was a loud popping noise, followed immediately by milk spraying everywhere.

The aftermath:

Guess those sharp teeth of his are good for puncturing as well as eating. Speaking of, he's currently cutting his 11th tooth, which will make his 4th molar. He ate almost an entire tuna sandwich today - that would be TWO slices of bread. He's also going up the two steps from our sunken living room, and generally tearing apart anything he get his hands on. It's so much fun! (And that was said without an ounce of sarcasm, I'll have you know. We love him THAT MUCH.)

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Did your parents dress you up matching for holidays? Have you had to seek therapy for residual issues from that experience?

Have your children (or did you?) caused any explosions? How long did they take to clean up, and did they require more than a stack of napkins?