4th of July Fun and more

This past week was a fun and busy one. We had lots of playdates with friends we haven't seen much of this summer. And, we went to see the movies for the free kids movie...Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs. I was worried Mady wouldn't be able to sit through the whole thing, but she was great. We brought her blanket, so she just cuddled up, ate her popcorn and enjoyed the show. The kids and I met TJ for lunch on Thursday and went to see his new office. Trip and Mady love getting to see Daddy during the workday. On Friday, we took it easy, getting ready for our big weekend. We played lots of games. The picture above is after a game of Pretty Pretty Princess. Mady won, but Trip looks great all jeweled-up! :-) On Saturday, we went back to my parents to celebrate the 4th of July. They had a packed house! It was the typical crew, our family and my brothers'. But we also had some new additions to the guest list: my grandfather, Papa, my uncle, Kevin and my sister-in-laws parents. It was such a treat to hang out with everyone! It's been a long time since all of those people were in the same place at the same time. The kids, of course, had a great time. You could tell all three of the older kids have much more confidence in the water than when we first visited this summer. We brought Mady back with us and left Trip (with Nick) to have some "boy" time with the grandparents. When we got home, we heard the Peachtree City fireworks starting, so at 9:30 pm, we took Mady, in her PJs, in the golf cart up to watch the fireworks, otherwise known as BOOMS! She loved it. She told us her favorite were the "Purple Booms". It was such a treat for just the three of us. I don't think TJ and I have ever done something with just Mady. She really soaked up all the individual attention while Trip was away...almost too much. It's a good thing she wasn't born first. We had a special 4th of July service and picnic at our church on Sunday and then we gave Mady a spa night that night. She got to take a bubble bath in our big jacuzzi tub and then we painted toe nails. She loved it...especially the big bubbles from our tub. That night at dinner, she decided she wanted to sit in Trip's seat, she also insisted on wearing his bib. She really missed him while he was gone. I got Trip early the next morning and met TJ and Mady at Jumping Jelly Beans. They had a blast; then we got pizza for lunch and went home for naps. After naps, we took the kids to see Toy Story 3. We all loved it! I cried so much at the end, Mady's hair was wet from my tears. Holding her in my lap, while Trip sat in TJ's thinking about them both leaving us and going to college one day (like the boy in Toy Story) was just too much for me to handle. It was a great, family-filled weekend!