4th of July

This year our family celebrated our nation's independence twice. On Sat, July 2, 2011 we went to watch fireworks with Lucas's parents down by Spotsylvania courthouse. I have to say the firework show was spectacular probably the best one I've ever seen. It went on for 40 minutes and had so many exciting moments that I thought that it was the finale several times before the actual finale. It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed our picnic dinner with Grandpa and Grandma. Ayla was all dressed up in her patriotic garb and apparently looked so cute that people couldn't resist giving her things. We were walking and a group of older ladies asked if they could give her some glow in the dark bracelets. Then literally a few feet later another group of people asked if she could have a little light up flag. Who am I to deny free gifts to my child. (Actually I hate her having those glow in the dark bracelets because she bites them and then they leak, but I wasn't going to say no to the nice ladies.)

Monday, July 4, 2011 we went to Dahlgren Naval Base (where Lucas works) because they had a big family oriented fair and fireworks show there. They had two big bounce houses so of course Ayla headed over to those right away.

As the night progressed it got more and more humid. You can tell how humid it is in the pictures because of the curliness in Ayla's hair. The curlier her hair is the more humid it is. It ended up being like little corkscrews by the end of the night.

One of the bounce houses had a 27 ft. slide. Would my little girl be scared of it? Nope not my Ayla. She scrambled up the ladder and slid down over and over again. One mom came up and was asking the ride operator if there was an age limit on it, she said she didn't think her 4 year old should go on it because she was too little. I pointed out Ayla and told her she was only 2. Granted I do not have a normal two year old, I have a Walde. The stories of Walde children scared me before, and during my pregnancy with Ayla. Well, now I have a Walde child and I see for myself what my mother-in-law was talking about. Here is a picture of Ayla climbing up the huge slide.

"I want to go again Mommy!"

We met up with my good friend Ann Lusher and her husband Paul who watched the fireworks show with us.

My cute little patriotic boy!

Ayla sporting her patriotic stars headband. Once again a freebie. It was sweltering so we brought our mister fan and Ayla was misting all of our feet and legs. It was actually quite nice.

Paul cuddling with Caiden. No doubt remembering his own two boys when they were as little as Caiden. Ann and Paul have two sons, Daniel who just graduated from college and is off to grad school in San Diego. Brian is 20 and goes to Virgina Tech he is in the group "Fighting Gravity" who appeared in the final three on America's Got Talent last year. I'm pretty sure that Paul doesn't get to hold them on his lap and cuddle with them very often so he was loving the time he got to spend with Caiden.

Mommy and Ayla wearing our matching patriotic shirts

Ayla watching the fireworks. Notice how curly her hair is.