4th of July Week

We have had quite a busy, fun week! One of my favorite things growing up was to go out to the beach and watch the fireworks. There are actually 3 different days to do this, so we decided to go out on the 3rd of July. We invited Scott and Catie to come with us too. The plan was to meet around 4:30, go pick Brian up from work, and then head out to the beach for a picnic dinner and fireworks. At about 3:00 the rain started, and kept on going. I keep hoping that the beach would still be clear, since it rains by us every day but not by the water. No such luck. We continued with the plan anyway, driving through monsoon rains to get Brian. Then Scott had the brilliant idea to go to our parents' house and wait out the rain. They were in Italy at the time, so we conveniently let ourselves in and ate dinner out on the patio under the cover of the roof. (We wanted to feel a little bit like we were having a picnic.) Around 6:30 it finally seemed to clear so we decided to make our way out to the beach. The rain definitely helped with the usually horrendous traffic and parking, and we found a spot right on the beach!

The kids had a great time playing with Uncle Scott and Aunt Catie, digging in the sand, and running from the waves. We had some sparklers but forgot a lighter, so when we saw the people next to us lighting sparklers we borrowed theirs and quickly went through 6 boxes of sparklers! Matthew loved sticking them in the ground and watching them. Finally it was time for fireworks! Unfortunately there were people about 50 feet away that were setting off pretty big fireworks, and Caroline was not a fan of the noise. She was pretty upset even when the actual firework display began and it wasn't nearly as loud, so Brian took her to the car to watch. Matthew on the other hand, loved them! He kept pointing out the gold dust and naming the color of each one. We both liked the ones that looked like palm trees the best.

On the 4th of July we decided to take advantage of our annual passes and head up to Sea World for the day. It was HOT!!! We got up there around 10:00 and started with the kids' section of the park. We did the helicopter simulator that Matthew loves, rode the train (of course), and then (literally) lost Matthew in the big net climbing area. We regrouped for some lunch then let the kids ride 2 more rides.

We headed across the park to see the new penguin exhibit, and unfortunately discovered that the only way to see the penguins is to wait in the 100 minute long line for the ride. No thanks! Instead we saw some Shamus swimming in their tank, baby dolphins, and super loud sea lions. We decided to watch the Pirate Sea Lion show, but after that we were pretty done. It was crazy hot and humid, and the kids were starting to lose it.

My college roommate and her family live in Orlando, so we made a little impromptu visit to her house. The kids had fun playing with Violet's toys and doing crazy daredevil stunts on the slide and trampoline. We decided to go get some dinner, but the first two places we tried were closed for the holiday. Thankfully Jason's Deli was open. We headed back after dinner and everyone (except Brian of course) fell asleep on the way home.

 

 

Friday, July 5th, was our 10 year anniversary! I am not quite certain how this is possible, since I am definitely not old enough to have been married for 10 years! Brian had to work during the day, and I was pleasantly surprised to have flowers delivered to our door around lunch time. In the evening we we had a fancy dinner at The Bijou Café. They brought us a free appetizer bite to start the meal, and since they knew it was our anniversary they brought a fancy chandelier lamp to the table with some dark chocolate bites for dessert. It was nice to be able to sit and talk over a meal for more than 15 minutes before the kids start needing something or having a meltdown :o)

 

When we finished we were going to try to head out to the beach to watch the sunset, but as we were driving we noticed lots of lightning in that direction, so we ended up just pulling off at Bird Key and sitting on a bench and talking for a while until it got dark. We even saw a pod of dolphins surfing the waves!

 

 

This week we are heading to Ireland for 10 days to continue our anniversary celebration. We can't wait!