Sparkles and Pretzels

by Tricia

Fourth of July weekend was one we were really looking forward to this year. Over the last 9 years or so, we have spent Fourth of July weekend with a wonderful group of friends that we have known since our high school youth group years. Last year was the first year we had to cancel due to Madelyn's cleft lip surgery on June 30 and Ainsley's early arrival.

We were pretty excited to introduce a new generation to our tradition. There were 13 of us there this year, counting Madelyn and Ainsley. We rented a house at the beach for three days and spent our days playing games, talking, playing on the beach, and eating lots and lots of snacks (Aunt Tieryn even made Madelyn her very-own chocolate chip cookie shaped like Mickey Mouse). We also celebrated Ainsley's first birthday and watched fireworks from the porch on the fourth.

A few favorite moments:

Watching fireworks was, hands down, both Troy and I's favorite moment of the trip. We had tried to keep Madelyn up late enough to see them but, after she asked to take a nap three times, we put her to bed. When the fireworks finally started, we decided to get her out of bed so that she wouldn't miss them. We will never forget her reaction. She was wide-eyed and called them “sparkles” at first. She stayed cuddled in a blanket the entire time and talked about the “boom” sound. When the fireworks subsided, she commented “sparkles all done.”

Madelyn and Ainsley had their first official play time. Madelyn was great at sharing at first until she figured out that Ainsley was too young to defend herself and that she could simply take toys out of Ainsley's arms. There were a few tears (on Madelyn's part) when we caught her in the act. Otherwise, Madelyn was very gentle with Ainsley and enjoyed sharing sand toys with her and standing close by during Ainsley's meal time.

Madelyn put her feet in the ocean for the first time! She didn't ask to repeat the experience though…

Our baby video monitor provided an amazing amount of entertainment. Everyone enjoyed watching Madelyn's bedtime antics (which include a commentary about the day's events; taking her pajamas off so that she can just sleep in her diaper, and a lot of gymnastics – all in the pack n play).

Madelyn was very happy about the amount of snacks available over the weekend. It took us a while after getting home to convince her that treats are not a part of our regular diet. Although we do have a large supply of peanut butter pretzels at her disposal. At the end of the trip, we divided up the remaining food to take home and one of the items left was about half a Costco tub of peanut butter-filled pretzels. When Madelyn heard that someone got to take it home, she raised her hand to volunteer to give it a home.

Super Why! - this is Madelyn's favorite shows on PBS. We again apologize to everyone for getting the theme song stuck in their heads.

Some more pictures from the weekend:

Labels: 4th of July, beach, by tricia, friends, pictures, who's got the power