- staying home (no travel allowed);
- going to the Bicycle Parade to watch the kids ride in circles on their bunting-covered bikes and then get a medal;
- going to the soccer field to play games, watch the kids bounce on the bouncy inflatable castle thingies, and agree with the other parents that they really should have one of those set aside for the grown-ups. Along with an ambulance;
- have a picnic dinner at the playfield with lots of friends and let the kids run and play until it gets dark, and then . . .
- watch fireworks surrounded by friends and family.
This year, we invited some of our oldest friends to spend the weekend. (BTW, it's the friendship that's old, not the friends) We met while we were DINKs (double income, no kids) working in Atlanta and ended up working together in Birmingham where all of our respective chilluns were born and we became SINMs (single income, no money). They also have three kids (2 girls, then a boy, the copycats!) that are close in age to our three. They have visited us before, but this was their first July 4th trip. We're hoping to make it an annual event.
New additions to the list of traditions based on this past weekend include:
- not playing golf (WAAAAAY to crowded on a holiday weekend);
- not going to the pool (ditto);
- eating chocolate cake until it oozes out your pores;
- turning July 5th into an 18-hour board-game-apalooza;
- letting the kids play to their hearts content and entertain themselves (ie: making them leave the grown-ups alone!)
Item #4 was particularly awesome. Blockus, Rummicube, lots of card games, Boggle. We played them all, then we played them again. We didn't move one car from the driveway all day long. We cancelled evening plans in order to keep playing games. Fueled by #3 (a ginormous chocolate cake), we were game-playing machines.
When was the last time that any of us did that?!
Looking forward to next year!
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment