4th of July - 2013

This year the 4th of July again saw us traveling. Honestly, being away from family and friends on special occasions is one of the hardest parts of deputation for me. But, we always try to make the best of it and we usually do. I decided to try something crazy for packing this time and for our two week trip I packed the three of us entirely in clothes that were red, white, blue or gray. Don't worry, not every outfit was patriotic for the whole two weeks! I ended up wearing mostly blue. July 3rd was a Wednesday so I dressed my daughter up in the outfit below and thought she was absolutely precious! (I can say that even though I'm her mother, right?) We even had matching hair flowers. She didn't end up wearing the play necklaces to our meeting but she enjoyed playing with them. 

The next day, the 4th, we had about a two hour drive to our next destination. We stopped at a McDonald's for lunch and Dida very much enjoyed her .50 cent "I-seam" cone.

We then had a few hours to settle in to our next place and shop for groceries before we headed out to a local golf and ski resort to partake in some festivities and watch the fireworks. We only knew to go there because the pastor of the church we were at also happened to work there and her gave us the tip.

 I was so thankful that we had purchased a shower curtain to sit on because about an hour before the fireworks there was a big rain storm so the ground was pretty wet. Instead of feeling silly for having a shower curtain instead of a blanket, I was feeling pretty smart! Dida also enjoyed the bounce house and being in grass where she didn't have to worry about being bitten by ants!

 Sadly, we found out the hard way that our daughter is NOT ready for fireworks. This was the first time we had taken her and we really weren't sure what she would do. About 3 explosions in, she was done! Daddy had to come to the rescue and take her inside, where, he later told me she kept pointing as far away from the fireworks as she could get and saying "No wan-ne!" (meaning I don't want . . .) I'm still not sure she has forgiven us as she now clings to me every time she hears a lawn mower or motorcycle! We'll try again in a few years I guess!