4th of July Weekend

Mike took off work on Thursday so we had four packed days of fun. On Thursday, Mike took Tyler to see his first movie in a theater - Kung Fu Panda. Mike was worried that Tyler couldn't sit still for 1 1/2 hours but with enough popcorn, lemonade and skittles anything is possible. We went to the park on Thursday afternoon because we were just blessed with beautiful weather the entire weekend. Friday, we took the kids to a local festival/carnival. Tyler rode the tilt-a-whirl for the first time and I truly thought it would be the last ride he would ever take. He was white as a ghost the entire time and Mike kept asking him if he was ok and Tyler was completly unresponsive but he got off the ride and said, "Let's go ride the cars now." You can see Mia has entered the kissing phase - open mouth of course. She also started saying "hi" this weekend. Anything that vaguely resembles a phone she puts up to her ear and says, "hi!" over and over again with the cutest little smile on her face.

On Saturday, we went to my sister and brother-in-law's house. They have a pond stocked with fish and it was Tyler's first time fishing. He loved it and we literally had to drag him to dinner kicking and screaming.

Sunday was a day to unwind at home. Mia now has her own swing and she just has the cutest little girl giggle. It used to be that I could stay inside with her and get a few things done while Mike and Tyler played outside but now she just stands at the sliding glass door and cries until I take her out. It was wonderful long weekend but by Sunday evening the kids and Mike and I were just completely spent. I read on a friend's blog that in Chicago you have to pack 12 months of fun into 12 weeks of summer. Exhaustion or not, you have to keep going because unlike Arizona, you never know when the weather will turn.