Baby, You’re A Firework

We had an absolutely BONKERS crazy 4th. In the morning we had a big brunch celebrating three grandmothers and their birthdays. We quickly cleaned that party up and then set up for a meet and greet(sip & see?) for Miss Mabel that afternoon. Then after that we quickly cleaned up and set up for our 4th of July cookout and celebration! Whew!

Mabel was visited by so many friends and family members and it was absolutely wonderful. My Mother in Law was such a saint to put together a party for Mabel(and ultimately, us) on such a crazy, busy day! We were so blessed by it and the guests who came were SO generous. I was seriously blown away by it.

My best friend, Lauren, and her family stopped by and it was so much fun to visit and see our kiddos together for a little bit! Such a gift!

And then.

Here is where my pictures from the 4th end.

After dinner(and a day filled with daytime fireworks, jumping on the trampoline, and endless outside playtime), Abigail had the meltdown to end all meltdowns. It had been a busy day- rest time didn’t happen- there was so much going on. But, she decided to totally lose it. So Jim talked with her and calmed her down and she apologized and it appeared things were slightly smoothed over- but he warned her- you can NOT act this way again. If you do, it’s straight to bed and no fireworks for you tonight.

Y’all. Not even like a minute later, she decided to lose it even worse than the first time.

And I’m not exaggerating when I say this was seriously the saddest and hardest thing either of us have had to do in our 4.5 years of parenting.

We had to follow through. And it SUCKED.

It felt like saying, “No Christmas presents for you!”

She acted like it was no big deal and la dee dah off to bed I go, bye! But once Jim put her in bed and told her goodnight, the realization of what her actions had cost her set in and it was the most heart breaking thing I’ve ever heard or felt. Seriously, I’m crying just remembering it.

It was so hard. So sad. Being a parent is hard. I even told Jim that night, “I don’t even want to blog about the 4th now because this is SO SAD!” and as we watched our big firework display that night and Abigail cried in her bed, I felt like I couldn’t even enjoy it because I knew how much she would have. And how excited they had been. And how long her and Jim had shopped together and planned for the 4th and how her behavior just…ruined it 🙁

But, alas!

The 5th was a new day.

And it was WONDERFUL.

We went to church together that morning and it was a lovely service. It is always such a gift to get to worship the Lord with your family! And when we got home we snapped some pictures of everyone in their Sunday best. (Christmas card, heard)

Then the rest of the day was spent fulfilling the epitome of an unplugged childhood. Wild and free and happy and wonderful.

Even baby sis got in on the action. The weather was positively gorgeous over the weekend!

Playing at Grandma Jenny’s always consists of the best things. Petting the animals, swinging on the swing set, jumping on the trampoline, riding bicycles, playing baseball, and so much more.

One of the best and most exciting things Abigail got to do was ride one of the horses next door! This was her very first time to ever ride, and clearly, she loved every second of it!

She got to brush Flanagan, feed him some carrots and some “grine” (grain, lol) and tell everybody about how he likes to eat Cheetos for a treat.

And the best part of the day?

Daddy saved back some special fireworks for Abigail to do.

(FULL RECOVERY!)

A sword that shoots fireworks out the front of it. Glory.

David and Abigail had a turtle vs. tank race. The turtle got stuck on a stick and the tank flipped over, so it was quite the race.

This firework is the epitome of my 4 year old’s dreams. The poopy puppy firework. She picked this out a while ago and it’s been talked about basically every day since.

I asked her if she could make the poopy puppy’s face. She could.

Fire shot out of his butt and then it pushed out a “snake” type firework. And we all died laughing, because it was actually super hilarious.

They lit off a bunch of other things that flew up in the air, spun on the ground, blew around smoke, make loud noises, and other 4th of July fun things.

We finished the night with sparklers, showers, and a 2 hour drive back home.

So, in the end, it turned out to be an absolutely wonderful, just about perfect, weekend.