Celebrate in Style

For the 3rd of July, we headed to our friends' house for some BBQ and fireworks on the golf course (literally)!

Then 4th of July, the McCallisters trekked our way for a downtown DC celebrations on the roof top (thanks to our friend Su).  The kids had a blast despite being up way past midnight!

 

 

Our boys LOVED taking the metro

 

 

Great time with them as always!

Blackwater Falls

This year's 4th of July started out bright and early.  We woke the kids up about 6 am and headed to Blackwater Falls State Park, WV to meet the McCallisters.  The location was a halfway point for both families so neither one of us have to drive further.  That is a blessing for us considering our children do NOT travel well long distance in the car.  Once we all got there, we picked right up where we left off which is what I love about them!  The weather was gorgeous.  The company was great.  The kids were happy.  The whole day just worked out perfectly!

Reed - McCallister's new addition
 

Yummy BBQ lunch

They all played so well together!

Can't wait until next year!

Apparently, Gavin decided that he wanted to potty train on the way home.  So we had to stop twice.  He stayed dried the whole time though which is awesome.  Ethan wanted to see fireworks SO bad and Brian was able to find one about 30 minutes out of town.  So we parked on the side of the road and waited until it got dark.  The kids were tired but they had fun.  What a perfect ending to a perfect day!!! 

Red, White and Boom

Our 4th of July morning started out at the Fairfax parade for Brian and Ethan while Gavin and I hit the gym.  We rendezvous back at home and took a family nap before heading out to Fairfax High School for a night of fireworks.  We met up with the Byers and all the kids had so much fun dancing and hanging out.  Gavin also had a lot of fun even with a short nap that day (compared to the previous years with Ethan).  Can I say melt down in Minnesota?  He stayed up through it all and wasn't even one bit scared of the loud noise.  Every year we tried to strategize on where to park in order to avoid the deadly traffic at the end.  Since the main road to the school was closed, we were kind of limited to where to go.  Unfortunately, the plan failed as we were stuck in the parking lot for over half an hour and didn't get home until 11 pm.  It was the longest we ever had to just sit and wait in the Billman history.  That's NOVA living for you!  We'll definitely have to figure out a better plan for next year.

Aren't they cute?

 

So glad Ryan joined us

Stevens Point

So, back in February we were supposed to meet up with the Deerings, Brian's college roommate, in the Dells for some indoor water park fun. But instead we had to cancel and go to an unexpected funeral. Well five months later, we made it happen. Didn't end up doing the whole water park thing, but it was still fun to just hang out at their place. The last time we came up to visit, we were young and free (with no kids). But this time activities were geared towards the kids and around nap time. It's funny how things have changed. Anyway the kids played so well together, it was fun to watch.

I must say not only did Ethan do great in the car, he did SUPER with the whole potty training thing. We had to stop on the side of the road (with his little potty) twice on the way there and on the way back. But other than that, his diapers stayed dry with no accidents. Isn't this kid awesome or what?!

Ubergoodness - enjoying his first root beer float EVER!


Having our own fireworks fun
Ethan's favorite part of the whole weekend
We spent the actual 4th of July the same place we did last year, at Brian's coworker's house. Ethan was pretty tired and didn't quite make it through the whole thing. So we ended up heading out early and beating all the traffic. I guess that was a plus.

Proud to be an American

Originally I was planning our vacation so that we would be in SC over 4th of July (as to continue our family tradition). But it didn't work out so we ended up being home with nothing really planned. On Saturday we happened to drive by downtown and remembered that Davenport has their fireworks that night. So with Ethan's nap being super awesome that afternoon, we knew we could stay and enjoy at least part of it. (I know it's sad to have to base everything on his nap, but that's just the way it is).

Anyway last year in MN, he fell asleep in the stroller but it took FOR-EVER to get him there. So this year we weren't sure how he was going to do. It was either going to be a) freak out by the loud firework or b) awake and loving it...and praise the Lord he chose the latter. Luckily he was entertained enough by all the people and music prior to the big bang which kept him awake but content. Then when it was time, he just sat quietly in his stroller while watching the colorful sky. No crying, screaming, antsy-ness or anything. Do you realized how rare that was?! We actually got to stay and enjoy the whole thing...it was SO nice!!! Of course he fell asleep on the way home and then slept in for us the next morning =0)


Then on the 4th, we ended up going to Brian's co-worker's house to celebrate and pretty much had a repeat of the night before. Two nights of fireworks, it was a bang!!!



I had to throw this one in:

Minneapolis

Is it possible to go on vacation and actually relax and do nothing the entire time? Apparently, not us. Well, instead of going crazy and doing the ten thousand things on my list, Brian did put a halt to that plan and limited me to a few. This year for 4th of July, we headed up to Minnesota and started a family tradition where we would go somewhere new every year. (Technically I guess we've already got a head start from the previous years - Wisconsin Dells in '07 and DC in '08).

Anyway, we hit the Mall of America and did a little shopping when we rolled into town Friday afternoon. Apparently, I haven't been there in a long time and must have forgotten how gigantic and also overwhelming that place is. There are 4 floors with 500+ stores AND an amusement park in the middle and as we walked around, I noticed that Ethan's eyes were practically bugging out! He was constantly looking from side to side and taking everything in - the people, the lights, the sounds. Let's just say that when we got back to the hotel, he was majorly overstimulated and could not fall asleep. Who could blame him!

The new Nickelodeon Theme Park
Later that night, we went to visit Brian's aunt and uncle who we haven't seen in a while and had a great time catching up with them. As we headed back, there were so many road constructions that we had to rely completely on "Jill" Garmin. Somehow in the process of helping Brian navigate, I accidentally rerouted us (without knowing) and we ended up in the ghetto in St. Paul. 30 minutes out of the way and totally confused, we eventually figured out what had happened - oppsy, my bad! Needless to say, we made it back to our hotel safe and sound but exhausted!

Waiting out the rain at Minnehaha Park
Saturday was spent chilling and taking it easy. As the evening approached, we headed downtown Minneapolis for the 4th of July fiesta. It was a gamble with Ethan since we thought he could do any of the following:
a) freak out by the loud firework
b) awake and loving it
c) sleep through the whole thing
Well, he picked "c" but not before crying uncontrollably from being overly tired and frustrated since he couldn't "wind down and shut off" on his own (again too many stimulations). So Brian had to put a blanket over his stroller and go for a walk in hopes of helping the lil' guy fall asleep. It was rather stressful, but eventually Ethan drifted off to lala land while we stayed and enjoyed the firework display. Before heading home on Sunday, we made one last stop at Lake Calhoun to enjoy a morning stroll around the big lake. Of course we can't be in Minnesota without visiting the lakes! It was a quick but fun trip away and now we're glad to be back home recovering.