Independence Day with Ethan

Today we spent the morning and afternoon at the zoo. It was wonderful - not crowded, not too hot. The boys had a blast checking everything out, including the new baby tiger and baby gorilla. Cuteness everywhere. We even let them spend time at the playgrounds (where Ethan ran around like a maniac…)and kids' areas we avoided last time. AJ's parents were there, and it was just a great way to celebrate the holiday.

Do you see Jack totally flirting?

Eat n Park sponsored a special sand area this week. 

The boys were in heaven.

Then, we left and everything turned to crap. The boys fell asleep within two minutes of leaving the zoo. I jinxed things by telling Phyllis, who then replied that it would be a 'peaceful ride.' Literally, one minute after that text message and Ethan woke up, telling us he had a belly ache. One minute after that, he was throwing up all over our car. And the puke kept coming and coming for hours, even after we got home. I just felt so bad for him; he rarely gets sick, especially to the stomach, and he was just miserable. He spent the afternoon laying on our couch, half zombie, while watching AJ play Lego Batman on X-Box (that was Ethan's sick-bed request.). We're not really sure what caused his sickness, but we are chalking it up to a combo of heat, a bumpy car ride, and guzzling water. Bad combo for our big guy.

My poor baby. He didn't move for hours.

He seemed to be feeling better before bed; we had gotten him to drink some Gatorade and eat some toast, crackers, and applesauce. By 7 p.m., he was back to his ornery self. I had promised him earlier in the day (a.k.a., pre-puke) that I'd wake him up to watch fireworks from our front porch. I really didn't want to wake him since he was literally exhausted from the day, but I also hated to have him miss them and be bummed tomorrow. So, I woke him, and I am so glad I did.

Playing hard didn't bode well for Ethan today.

We sat on our porch, him on my lap, and saw two local displays over the neighborhood trees. There were tons of lightning bugs in the air (which Ethan LOVED), and he was so delighted to be outside that late and to be seeing such cool things. We talked about all kinds of stuff - our favorite animals from the day, plans for the weekend, the book we read together before bed, going to the big city (a.k.a., Pittsburgh) to watch fireworks when he's older. It was, in short, one of those parenting moments I'll never forget. Just me and my first born sharing a quiet moment on a hot summer evening. Since he's quickly approaching kindergarten, I feel like these little moments of his child-ness are fleeting, so I'm trying to remember to take the time to stop and savor them. I'm not ready to celebrate his impending independence, thank you very much.