7.05.2012

Some Fourth of July-ing















In addition to falling off the "no sugar" wagon big time (hello homemade blueberry hand pies and key lime pie ice cream), my 4th of July was also an exercise in being humbled by the girlies. Here's how things went down...

Audrey and Millie sprung out of bed at the crack of dawn in anticipation of our neighborhood 4th of July parade where they were riding on their school "float". To call them excited would be an understatement. They were chomping at the bit, bursting at the seams, raring to go. You get the idea.

I was, well...decidedly not.

No, I was sullen and grumpy. Don't get me wrong, I love my neighborhood, my neighbors, the girlies' school... It's just that I wanted to be lazy on my mid-week day off. I wanted to leisurely drink cups of coffee and read and just generally mill around being patriotic in the comfort of my own (air conditioned) home. (Yes, I realize it was the crack of dawn, but it's Texas, heat is a 24x7 situation.) But said parade was not an optional situation...the girls were obsessed (and there was no way I was going to willingly create fodder for their future therapy sessions), so I dragged myself to the festivities, smiled, rode on the "float" (i.e. the back of a pick-up truck) with the kiddos, sweated profusely, and didn't complain even once. But man was I bummin'.

The rest of the day, however, was my kind of independence day fun. We sipped fizzy, minty, lemon/lime gin cocktails and ate burgers and roasted potatoes and grilled corn and spicy green beans and pasta salad and watermelon (and that aforementioned hand pie/ice cream action). We swam, lit sparklers, hung out with friends, watched fireworks with neighbors, my sweaty parade angst melting away in the midst of all the festive loveliness.

And then late last night, as I was putting a sun-worn, exhausted little Millie to bed, she looked up at me and mumbled, "today was the best day ever." I asked her what her favorite part was, and (you know where this is going, right?), without missing a beat, she emphatically responded,

"THE PARADE".

And then she conked out...

10 comments:

Heather Taylor said...

Ahhh this is so sweet. Sounds like a cozy day. Minus the sweating xo

Mary said...

Ha! Love it. At least you know the sacrifice you made by sweating on a pickup truck was appreciated by your girls. Otherwise sounds like a lovely day!

torrie said...

i have so been there... which may explain why tears have sprung to my eyes in the midst of reading this.

touching, and a very good reminder :).

Desi McKinnon said...

i feel like we need to take back aol to mean awwed out loud. that was the sweetest. you're a trooper.

Kim said...

The girlies were a hit! Wait till you see their fab pics! Yay for parades!

Alice Q. Foodie said...

I think you earned that sugar! xox

kristin said...

oh i hear ya, i was ready for some major relaxation yesterday but then my folks invited us over for a kid's bike parade, BBQ, carnival, then fireworks (an all day endeavor). i grumbled up until it happened, but it turned out to be a great day! it's fun to see your kids SO EXCITED no matter how "bleh" you may feel about it. happy fourth. it's almost the weekend. :)

Jane said...

I see the Mistur family has worn off on Bryan...Lighting things on fire. The boys send high fives Bryan's way! Sadly, they were unable to light their own fireworks on fire as we are all out. And will be for a long while!

Joslyn said...

Jane
Tim brought the fireworks ;-) so clearly there's something in the Judson genes that loves some fire...

paperjunk-lc said...

LH does do a kick ass parade! You're makin memories is the best part of summer.