Fourth of July

July 4th was full of family fun. To start the day Nicholas recited the Pledge of Allegiance. I am very impressed. I had no idea a 3 year old could learn all the words and annunciate every word correctly, for the most part ("liberty and justice for all" sounds a little funny).
While Travis was down for his morning nap, Nicholas and I cleaned off his picnic table and water play table. They had been neglected this year and needed some love. We filled up the water play table and Nicholas went to work. He scooped water into the spouts, tried to sink the boats, and tossed water over his shoulder. We went in to change him up to dry clothes. By that time Travis was up and ready to go out.
We drove over to the closest park. Nicholas played on the excavator and Travis was in the baby swings. Adrian and I alternated between the two. The metal slide was much too hot to play on. So we walked over to the pond to check out wildlife. Sadly and amazingly, the ducks come out of hiding and swim over as soon as people walk up to the pond. They expect food, which of course we didn't think to bring with us. We got to see lots of dragonflies, Canadian geese, ducks, a heron, and a couple of turtles. Nicholas really wanted to see an alligator and a snake and thankfully we did not see any of them.
We upheld our patriotic duty to be American and had McDonald's drive thru for lunch. The Southwest chicken salad is quite tasty. I think it's Newman's Own dressing that makes the difference.
Both kids took gigantic naps. And the grown ups snoozed a little too. So relaxing.
For dinner I tried a new recipe. I was afraid to share the ingredients with Adrian, he can be a little picky. Noodles with spinach and tofu in sauce made from broth and hoisin sauce. It came out great. We all loved it and can't wait for the leftovers.
We watched one of Nicholas's favorite movies, Firehouse Dog, and then the boys went down for the night.
The grown ups sat outside with cold beverages and kicked back. Neighbors near by were shooting off firecrackers (which by the way Nicholas wants to eat some - a logical misunderstanding). The skies were overcast so we got to enjoy the nearby fireworks reflecting off the clouds. It was pretty neat to watch all the flashes of light and enjoy the light breeze blowing through the trees.
That closes out Day 2 of our staycation.