Tuesday, July 7, 2009

4th of July Weekend

We spent the 4th of July weekend with Alan, Christine and Sophie Long at their home near Detroit. This was the fourth consecutive year we spent the holiday with them, but the first year at their house instead of Alan's parents in Toledo.

We decided to leave early Friday morning (2:15 am) with the hopes that Danielle and Michaela would sleep in the car, of avoiding traffic in Chicago, and arriving in time for lunch. We were successful in the last two, but sleeping was not common early in the drive. Michaela remained awake throughout the morning looking at Chicago's many lights and signs. Danielle and Christine did get a bit of sleep but not much. We stopped at Benton Harbor, MI for breakfast around 6am. The girls got clean diapers and slept the remainder of the drive. Upon arriving we got the grand tour of the house. We spent most of the day lounging around talking and playing with the girls. Christine Long and I failed miserably at Hand & Foot losing two games, with the first game conceded after three hands we were so far behind.

Michaela woke up sick on the 4th, we suspect from exhaustion the day before. She napped while we took a walk but woke up in time for the neighborhood parade. Michaela filled her pockets with candy, although none of the girls got to eat much of it. The parade stopped at the neighborhood clubhouse and Michaela got a closer look at a firetruck. We chatted with the firefighters about Uncle Steve and they opened the truck to give a look inside, but Michaela was too scared to actually step inside. I'm sure she would have been braver if Uncle Steve was there.

We packed a picnic and headed to a park for lunch. Michaela and Sophie played together wonderfully. Michaela proved to be the bully exuding her age dominance (8 months) over Sophie even though Sophie probably had the weight advantage. At the park Sophie ran from Michaela for nearly 15 minutes, with Michaela chasing her as a daddy lion. After naps we played at a splash park and in their backyard (complete with swing set, sandbox and climbing trees) before grilling in the evening.

Alan and I lost two games of Hand & Foot to the Christine's that night. We concluded that I suck at cards, but of course the flip side is that my Christine rocks...so you decide (although I prefer the later explanation). Fireworks were first set off around 8:30. Of course the extra noise was too much for Michaela to sleep and around 10 I finally opened the window shades to let her watch the Fireworks from the upstairs bedroom. Fireworks stopped around 11 and Michaela was asleep when we checked on her shortly after.

Gwinny (their scaredy cat) actually made a surprise appearance Sunday morning and hid under a chair. Michaela loves cats and repeatedly laid on the floor to see her. Sunday the girls went to the zoo and the guys went golfing. We ordered pizza and the little girls played in an inflatable pool. The girls fell asleep within ten minutes of leaving at 8 pm and the rest of the drive home was uneventful. We finished 'Pandora's Daughter' a book on CD while driving.

2 comments:

Aubrey said...

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful weekend! You recount the events with the little girls so well. Can't wait to see more pictures.

Micah said...

So much fun!! And I could NOT love Danielle's pigtails more!! :)