Before I tell you all about it, I just want to say a huge thank you to all the men and women (and their families) who dedicate their lives to serving our country and to preserving our rights and independence. You are appreciated!!!
To celebrate the 4th, we went to my in-laws' house in Palmetto. We did this last year, and looks like it might become a nice little (dare I say it?) family tradition. We went over there in the early afternoon, which meant we missed out on the day trip on the boat. I would have liked to have gone out on the boat and gone swimming and whatnot, but in the interest of preserving Charlotte's good nature, we decided to make sure she had her morning nap before we went anywhere. She's still feeling a mite poorly, so I didn't want to stress her too badly.
So we had the house to ourselves when we got there, which gave us time to give Charlotte her lunch and set up the various paraphernalia and accoutrements that are necessary for any overnight travel with a baby. We'd borrowed my mom's Pack & Play, which is the "modern" equivalent of a play pen; it doubles as a play pen and a baby bed, and it folds up into roughly the size of a deck of cards for convenient travel. Awesome invention. I have no idea why I don't have one of these things! Anyway...so Charlotte went to town in the PnP with her bag o'toys and Mommy and Daddy vegged on the couch while we waited for the rest of clan Webster/Dane to arrive. Check out her very festive and patriotic outfit:
After the rest of the family and friends got back from their day trip aboard the Doodle II, everyone got a-bustlin' with preparations for dinner: steak, baked potatoes, mushrooms, bread, and salad (which of course I didn't eat). Nummers. The men were, of course, in charge of the meat, while the ladies handled the potatoes and such. I'll be honest, I didn't really do anything--usually I'm all about helping out, but the kitchen is itty bitty and I had a baby to watch, so I stayed out of the way. While the little ladies were in the kitchen, Brian and David decided that a pina colada would be tasty, so off they went to buy a blender and assorted ingredients necessary for their libations.
Meanwhile, back at the house, Charlotte sat on the floor in the living room and enjoyed the attentions of everyone in the house...and there was much attention, believe me. She handled it pretty well. Lately she's been a little clingy around people she's not used to, but she just ate it up. Probably because my 2 brothers-in-law and their friend were there, so she had lots of boys to play with. Never mind the pesky wives, or that 30-something year age gap...she was making all sorts of big flirty eyes at them. (I'm really looking forward to about 13, 14 years from now when she discovers boys her own age.) Jason and his friend Adam had to run to the store, and we decided to have them drop Brian's car off at the marina so we could take the boat back there and drive home, rather than attempt to navigate the somewhat shallow waters of the Intracoastal in the dark to take us back to the house.
Brian and David returned with the makings for some kickass pina coladas, fired up the grill, and got down to their manly business while I got Charlotte a bath. She helped me eat my baked potato and was none too happy with my assessment that her one tooth is insufficient to handle a steak. Mean old Mommy.
After dinner...it was time to go on the boat to watch the fireworks! This was the part I was unsure about. Either Charlotte was going to love it, or she was going to hate it. It takes about 30-45 minutes to get from the house on the Intracoastal Waterway to the place near Bradenton where we watch the fireworks, and it was already about an hour past Charlotte's bedtime, so I was crossing my fingers! We sat on the top deck with her so she could see what was going on--at first she was a little unsure, but once she got used to it she was very interested in what was going on.
She also got to spend some quality time with her Grandma Jane, which is pretty rare...usually Charlotte gets around to see everyone else, but not this time!
The boat ride was incredible...no rain, nice breeze, pretty sunset. We got to our spot just in time to watch the fireworks, which was nice...last year we went out on the boat and cooked and ate dinner there, then had to wait several hours for the fireworks to start--it made for a very long evening (of course, I was like 500 months pregnant at the time, which didn't help much). This year was nice; we only had to wait about 15 minutes for the show to start.
The fireworks started at about 9:30, and even though Charlotte was super tired by that time, she really enjoyed them. She started whimpering a little at the first one or two loud booms, but after that she was riveted.
She watched the first part of the show with Mommy, but the boat turned around so we couldn't see the fireworks very well, so she went to sit with Daddy.
The show lasted about 30 minutes or so, and she started to get a little bored with it by the end, though she dug the finale--lots of pretty lights! On the way back, Brian and I realized that in our rush to get on the boat after dinner, neither of us had brought the keys to his car, which was sitting in the parking lot at the marina, waiting to take us home. Oops...
Brian and David took a cab back to the house (and in the bustling metropolis that is Palmetto, it was probably the most expensive 5 minute taxi ride ever) and brought back the keys. Luckily we'd thought to bring Charlotte's swing on the boat, so she was passed out in the air conditioned cabin, swinging merrily away (and Mommy was not sacked out on the couch next to her...definitely not). When we finally made it back to the house, Charlotte pretty much immediately went back to sleep in the PnP, and slept until an unprecedented 8 o'clock this morning. Which of course meant she wasn't interested in going back to sleep like she usually does.
After her first breakfast, which was way less interesting than watching Granddad's dogs run around on the floor, she played with her toys (sharing nicely with Tink and Bell), and generally had a good old time until Mommy the Mean Sucky Bulb Monster attacked her. That pretty much ruined her morning and led to a meltdown, followed closely by nap.
All in all we had a really nice weekend. I'm very happy that Charlotte enjoyed the boat and fireworks, and I can't wait until we take her to the beach next weekend! Hope you had a safe, fun, and happy 4th!
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