July 4th

Since I took a little break from blogging, I have some catching up to do!

July 4th is my absolute favorite holiday. I love it more than Christmas or Easter. There is something about patriotic music, fireworks, and dressing in red/white/blue that I just love. We didn't go to a parade this year, but we'll definitely go next year! Normally Lily is in bed by 7:30 latest, but we decided that we would keep her up late for July 4th so we could (hopefully) see the fireworks. We were prepared to abandon ship and head home if she started getting too tired and fussy.

Ethan had made reservations for us at Houston's as a surprise. We dressed up a little in patriotic colors.... so of course I had to set up the tripod to get a family photo!

Before heading out to dinner in our coordinating patriotic ensembles

Munching on one of mommy's ribs and listening to the jazz trio
(She had some of Daddy's sea bass too)

Chardonnay and Cheerios...

Ethan informed me during dinner that we were in for a treat that night since he knew the perfect secret location to view the fireworks. After finishing dinner at Houston's (which was delicious!), we headed to a neighborhood in Buckhead that was closed off to traffic by the APD. We had no problem entering, since ::ahem:: my husband knows people. ;) After parking, we walked to the park area and set up our picnic blanket amongst the many that had already been set out. We had an hour and a half to kill before the fireworks show, so we just took the opportunity to take more pictures and play with Lily. There were lots of little kids running around with sparklers and small fireworks, and Lily was mesmerized by them. She stayed happy and alert. I did have to nurse her once in her Ergo while we were waiting, but other than being hungry that one time, she didn't fuss once.

Munching on Sophie while waiting for the sun to set

"FIREWORKS?!"
(this picture makes me laugh every time I see it)

Watching the fireworks

We weren't 100% sure how she would do with fireworks....but as you can see above, she loved them. People kept warning me that she would lose it and start crying because their kids did. I just nodded and said "We'll see." I really thought she'd be just fine since she's pretty calm and laid back like her dad and I. She watched the entire thing with great interest and never startled or freaked out. (And yes, she can hear perfectly...we did an audiology test so we know this for certain) I was a little concerned that the finale might be a bit much for her since it's so loud and the pops are all over the place, but nope! When the show was over, we headed to our car and were home in 15 minutes thanks to no traffic. We'll definitely be going back to the secret location again next year if we're at home in Atlanta!

So, how was Lily after the end of the night? Well....see for yourself.

Out cold