Crash! Bash! Bang! Oh My! It's The 4th Of July!

First of all,

this happened:

I mean, come ON!!

And then after that, this tiny little blog of mine somehow landed itself in Good Housekeeping!

I mean, COME ON!!!

And then on top of that, we've been pinned and liked on Pinterest by Home Shopping Network and Coast Magazine!

Things are really starting to look up around here...

So.

I'm a few weeks behind on my blogging. This week my hope is to catch up one event at a time. Today I'll start with our 4th of July celebration. My mom was visiting from Long Beach and we headed down to City Park for a day full of festivities. We didn't make it in time for the parade but when Kalynn realized how to construct graham cracker and goldfish sandwiches she forgot about everything else in the world anyway.

Fort Collins has just over 875 acres of developed park land, the biggest being City Park. There's more than enough room for everyone in the town, a stage, multiple bands, a crazy fun water park, a handful of playgrounds, lake with paddle boats, and of course the city's firework display.

It's a really fun place to be on the 4th of July.

Remember when riding on shoulders was the best part of any occasion?

Kalynn was able to hold some sparklers on her own this year under extreme supervision. We used a plastic cup to shield sparks from her sensitive little arms.

Fireworks started an hour late this year but we made fast friends with the people on the blanket next to ours and that made time go a bit faster. (But so did the whiskey we snuck in)

Next year we're hoping to make it up to Estes Park and watch fireworks from the Stanley Hotel!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Independence Day and thank you for all the encouragement on The Brighter Writer!

Honestly!

-XOXO

Happy Birthday America!

We're having a rough week for some reason. There are no teeth coming in, sleep has been peaceful and at regular intervals, food consumption is normal, water intake is the same, emotional stability is in tact from both parents... I suspect it just has something to do with being a 2-year-old.

Whatever the reason for Kalynn's display of disobedience, I was able to have a break from it for a few hours by going to work. "State wide fire ban! Come blow up your livers instead of firecrackers! What else to you have to do??" 

After work, I stole a free moment from melt down mode to escape to our local firework stand and pick up some Independence Day necessities. Colorado has a state wide fire ban right now (all city park charcoal grills have been covered, campfires have been prohibited, the city's annual firework display was canceled...), therefore it's not illegal to buy them, but it is illegal to light them off. So... awesome. That sort of put a damper on our 4th.

Kalynn cried about it. Shocker.

(Even in her most "terrible-two" moments, she's the cutest thing I've ever seen in my life!)

But her mood quickly brightened when I showed her what we had in store for the evening. Like these Black Cat Snappers!

and party poppers!

And snakes! ("long black poopies!")

Even though it was totally against the law, we lit off a sparkler. I poked a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup to slide the stick through so when she held it, the sparks didn't land on her sensitive little arms.

We hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th of July! Happy 236th birthday 'Merica!!