I’m just realizing that this post is a little picture-light but you guys, the memories we made on July 3rd/4th are some of the best our little family has and I think we would all agree on that! So it’s really important to me to get them out of my head and on to the blog. It may get a little whiney because things didn’t go as I planned but I promise there is redemption, so don’t get too annoyed with me and click off. 
Our town does a huge fireworks show on the actual fourth but it is always insanely crowded and just really not all that fun to Nathan and I, frankly. We much prefer Newburgh’s firework show (about 20 mins. away) and they always do their’s on July 3rd. I LOVE a fireworks show and knew Camden would too but I tried not to get my hopes up in the weeks/days leading up because keeping a two-year-old up until 9PM is not always a good time so I knew we would have to play it by ear based on how the day leading up went. You know, make it a game-time decision as my friend Megan put it.
But the stars aligned and the afternoon of the 3rd he napped 4+ hours so I text Nathan that I thought we should go for it! I packed a bag full of quite literally everything we could possibly need – entertainment, snacks, blankets, towels (rain was in the early evening forecast), bug spray, I mean anything and everything you could think of. Our plan was to go to a late-ish dinner, yes 7PM is late to a two-year-old, at a “rice and beans” (aka Mexican food) place over in Newburgh then get down to the river around 8/8:15 so I wanted to be prepared and make the wait fun, too! But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
We got to the restaurant right on schedule and got seated right away. We ordered our food and munched on chips and “dip it” (salsa) and queso while we waited. And waited. And waited for close to an hour for our food. Why does stuff like this happen on nights you try to change up your kid’s routine? Luckily, the restaurant was incredibly family friendly (in other ways, eye roll) and Nathan and Camden ran around and looking at fish and different things while I waited at the table for the food. It came and we hurriedly ate and got out of there so we could get downtown.
Instead of getting there around 8:00 like I planned it was now more like 8:30 which meant there was no where to park where we wouldn’t have to walk 3+ miles to have a good view. Thanks to Facebook I knew of a shuttle stop so we headed there and waited along with 100ish other people for the TINY shuttle to make its way back and forth. Nathan and I were not having that great of a time by this point but I gave Camden a glow stick out of my bag of tricks and he had a ball! He was such a good boy while we were waiting! Every time a bus would come he would yell “There’s da bus! Go see hire-works!” so his excitement was pretty contagious and I just prayed over and over for patience for all of us and that we wouldn’t miss the entire show and then have to explain that to him.
We were about 10 minutes late but found a spot quickly, threw down our blanket, and enjoyed the last 20 minutes of the show! Camden was captivated the whole time but sat very close to Nathan and grabbed my arm a few times during the finale when they were going off non-stop. Other than that, he was so brave and loved it!
When it was over we quickly hopped back in line preparing ourselves for another long wait. However, the Lord is merciful and not only did we barely have to wait, we rode back to our car on an actual school bus. Which frankly, for Nathan and I wasn’t a super-pleasant experience because it took much longer and was hello, a school bus, but you would have thought our child died and went to heaven. Guys, I never seen anyone so excited to ride on a school bus. He has literally talked about “ride da school bus to see da hire-works” multiple times a day every day since this night. It really put the whole night into preservative for me. I talked a little bit about it more last night over on Instagram, actually. There were so many times I wanted to give up and go home (or call an Uber, ha!) but I’m so glad I didn’t because the memories were made for him in the (what seemed to me) hard stuff. And gosh isn’t that a good lesson to be smacked over the head with every once in a while?! Like, I’m tearing up thinking about it. Perspective and attitude is everything and I feel like that is 10000% more true with parenting!
As much as we could dream that Camden would sleep in since he was up three hours past his bed time the night before, he was up bright and early on the 4th at his usual time – 6AM! So after relaxing on the couch for a while he and I headed to the grocery for doughnuts and to get supplies for this crock pot queso dip. It’s so delicious and always a hit! Soon enough it was a more acceptable time to show up at someone’s house so we headed to my mom’s house for some family time, food, and of course, SWIMMING.
Speedo Puddle Jumper | Flag Swim Trunks (Similar)
This boy could literally spend all day in the pool and, with the exception of the ever precious nap time, that’s just what we did on the 4th! Hence why there are not more pictures. Nathan and I were talking at lunch on Sunday about how much fun Camden has been this summer. This age is the best! We can be a little bit looser with his schedule and he is just so excited to do all the things. He’s no longer a baby, really is what it is! It makes me even more excited about our Florida trip next month and to know we have another baby coming along soon. I do really love the baby stage as well! Toddlers are just way more fun in the summer.
My Swim Suit (less than $20!) | Hat | Donut Float
I mean look at the pure joy on that boy’s face! His favorite thing to do this day was to sit on the edge of the donut so he could “fall off” into the water, ha. Also, I’m not sure if you noticed but go back through the last few pictures and look at his hands. We are HEAVY in a “I must carry all the things with me quite literally where ever I go” phase and it cracks me up. I probably picked up whatever sort of car that was 50x from the bottom of the pool.
Nathan has been on a real kick about our “next house” lately and we both agree a pool is going to happen! We are just pool/beach people. Surely it’s not much different than taking care of this beast, right? 
We are still probably a couple years away from that being a reality but it is fun to dream!
After heading home for a nap (a typical nap is 3-4 hours long lately…???) we headed to our Godson’s birthday party for more fun, food, and swimming! Obviously, I was not thinking much about pictures since this is the only one I snapped, whoops. But we had a great time celebrating our favorite four year old!
After a few more hours of fun we headed home early-ish since Cam had been up SO late the night before. We got him in bed just in time for our neighbors to put on the firework show of the century that last almost three hours and literally sounded (and felt) like they were trying to bomb our house. Pre-mom Rachel probably would have embraced it and gone to the backyard to watch but instead I stared at the monitor for three hours (while consoling a terrified dog) and prayed my two-year-old wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t, thankfully, but let’s just say I have much strong feelings about residential neighborhood fireworks now than I used to. #annoying
Overall, we had an amazing holiday and I’m so grateful for every single moment! Even the hard ones!!
Keep up with all my posts on Bloglovin | See day to day pictures & stories on Instagram | Read my tweets on Twitter | Like the Rachel Emily Blog on Facebook | Pin along with me on Pinterest
Linking up with Biana, Lindsay, and Jenna.
The post 4TH OF JULY REWIND appeared first on rachel emily.