Happy Fourth of July, 2014!

This year, Oliver asked me what we are watching fireworks for. I told him a little story:
A long time ago, our country was ruled by a king who lived far away. This king made rules and laws for us, but they weren't good laws. So, one day, we decided that we would make our own laws. That day was our first Independence Day. Now, we celebrate that day every year.

That seemed to do the trick! We went to the supermarket and got snakes & sparklers. It's been a long time since we've gotten to purchase things like that. In Colorado, it's usually too hot and dry to even allow sparklers for fear of wildfires.

Jo took a late nap so she could stay up for the fireworks show, and Andrew and Oliver lit some of the snakes. Oliver was afraid of them at first and ran away.

Then, went it got close to dark, we packed up and set out for Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines. For whatever reason, most of the major fireworks displays in Des Moines happened on July 3. Maybe it's to give city workers the Fourth of July off, but that's just speculation. Anyway, we set out for the suburbs. We barely entered the park before we decided to just pull over and set up our chairs there. I'm glad we did because it looked like a lot of traffic to get further into the park. In future years, maybe we'll wait and see the fireworks over the lake.

Here are the kiddos, patiently waiting for fireworks with their Fourth of July popsicles.

Here's Oliver with some sparklers! He's actually really good with them.

Here's a video of Oliver with his sparklers:

                   

...and Andrew helped Jo hold her sparkler, which she called a "rainbow."

At least, it was fireworks time! Oliver and Jo both loved them, and Oliver would guess which color the next one would be.

Jo wanted to wear the shades, even though it was pitch black.

Red, White, and Blue Popsicles

For the Fourth, I made homemade popsicles for the kiddos.  I layered pureed blueberries, Greek yogurt (that I sweetened), and pureed strawberries to create red, white, and blue layers.  I had to freeze the pops for about 10 minutes between layers to make sure they wouldn't run together.  It worked well, and both kids gobbled them up!

Independence Day 2012

Happy Fourth of July from Oliver and Joanna!  This is Joanna's first Independence Day, and I'm sorry to say that it's not going to be the most spectacular one ever celebrated.  Fire danger is high in Colorado, so they enacted a ban on the sale and use of all fireworks for individuals.  It was left up to the counties as to whether or not they would proceed with public fireworks displays, and most counties cancelled (including ours).

I have some glow sticks, so we'll go outside after the sun sets and play with those.  Besides a little flag waving (which is fun for a two year old), that's pretty much the extent of our celebration this year.

This year, I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for my country's recognition of the right to free speech.  I'm glad I can speak my mind, and debating different ideas is good for democracy.  Thank you to everyone who allows the people around you to share their opinions.  That said, I'm also thankful for our new health care laws, which have allowed all children to have access to healthcare by no longer allowing insurance companies to deny children for pre-existing conditions, and have allowed young adults to remain on their parents' health insurance while they finish college. My oldest was denied health insurance when he was just a few months old, despite of the fact that there had never been a lapse in his coverage. I'm glad there will be no parents in this country who will ever have to deal with that again. This has been a good year for our country.

Happy Fourth of July!

100 (Attempted) Ways to Entertain a Young Toddler, Day 7: Glow Sticks

I was at Michael's the other day and spotted red, white and blue glow sticks for 70 cents! Thinking of Oliver, I bought one for last night (fireworks were on July 3 in our town).

As we waited for fireworks (which Oliver loved, by the way), I cracked the glow stick and handed it to him. He loved it! He immediately began spinning it and moving it around. He also wanted us to twirl it for him to watch.Unfortunately, the 70 cent glow stick didn't last long. Oliver tried to bite it once, and that was probably the cause of the hole that we discovered after some of the fluorescent liquid dripped onto the ground. Boo. I had to take it away from him (he handled it well, though).

Oliver typically goes to bed with the sun (by 8:30pm), so he doesn't spend a lot of time outside and in the dark. I really want to do glow sticks again with him, but I'm going to wait until the days are a little shorter.

I don't have much to base my grade on, since the glow sick only lasted about five minutes, but from what I observed, it deserves an A! Just be sure you watch your young toddler with it in case they decide it bite it like my son did.

Happy Fourth!

From our Declaration of Independence:

‎"...that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. — That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it..."

My parents came over for a belated celebration of her birthday and to celebrate the holiday. We decided enjoy the hot afternoon at the pool.

Happy Independence Day!

Summer Fun in the Backyard

Happy Independence Day weekend!

Happy Fourth of July!