Best 4th of July ever!

So, it has been raining for the last 7 years. Ok, not really.  It has been raining for the last 7 months.  So, big surprise it was going to be raining buckets on the 4th.  Our original plans were to meet in the street and have a party followed by walking up to the square to watch the fireworks.  Since that was cancelled I had to think fast to figure out what to do to entertain my 3 kids for yet ANOTHER rainy day.  So.  First things first.  I went for a morning run.  If I didn't, I knew they would be dead by 11:37am.  After getting in my run, I felt great and was ready to tackle the day.

First we decided to do crafts.  I brought up 85% of my craft supplies and let them go to town.  Want to paint?  Sure!  Glue on sequins?  Sure!  Glue on pipe cleaners?  Sure!  Mix all the paint?  Sure!  Paint yourself?  Sure!  They were entertained from 12:00pm until 3:30pm.  THREE AND A HALF HOURS!  How was it possible?

After that I told them we would have a party in the living room while eating dinner in front of a movie.  A first for us.  It was a BIG hit!!  We had hummus, guac, chips, then they had hot dogs, rolls (minus poor wyatt), watermelon, potatoes on the grill.  Oh, and juice boxes.  It was fun.  We watched Monsters, Inc for the first time.

Then, for the grand finale, I picked up some fireworks at Publix since Decatur's show was rained out.  They LOVED it.  The sparklers were a hit and the fireworks weren't loud, just flashy and pop-y.  They loved the snap-pop throw to the ground things.  Huge hit.  As I was going in to get the camera, I heard Jack tell Doug to light all the fireworks at once.  He is 100% boy.  It was a great time.

I think it finally dawned on me that we don't need to drag them everywhere to have a good time.  Just a little imagination and family time and we are good.  Now, going to the meet in the street party followed by the Decatur fireworks would have been fun, but it also would have been a ton of work.  Now it is 8pm all three kids are in bed, 2 asleep and I can enjoy the rest of the 4th with my man.

BEST 4TH EVER!

Constantly checking to make sure his siblings aren't doing something better

Such a ham.  "Cheese!"

I love Abby's looks

Working hard.  Jack loves art.

Dinner and a movie

Wyatt used the same chip, over and over

Jack was concerned about it

Dada running the grill, in the rain

FIREWORKS!

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

Jack is so protective of his siblings

This one had some pops

Sparklers!

Wyatt loved them

Abby smartly avoiding Wyatt with the sparkler

He loved them

Jack wanted to know how each firecracker worked

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!