Holiday Weekend

We started July 4th weekend off with a bang! Saturday we had lovely brioche French toast breakfast. The kids really wanted to eat the entire loaf of brioche but I managed to keep them away long enough to make the French toast... Then of course they weren't really hungry for the French toast. Next time I should let them eat all the brioche. Then we headed to Round Lake. It was great! It was our first time there. Both kids wanted to go to the beach immediately but then Bennett decided to do the playground. So I went with him and got stuck pushing him on the swing for a long time. He really loves swinging. 

Then we had more beach time and eventually had lunch in the beach. Bennett even put in the floaty and swam around a bit. Both of the kids loved smashing sand castles. It was a great morning. 

After we went home for naps, then to the Kleins for a BBQ. Our evening ended with sparklers and fireworks in the driveway. I personally wasn't a fan of giving 3 year old sparklers but I gave Bennett a long pep talk about what not to do. Don't put it by your body, don't touch the sparks, don't pretend it's a sword, don't hit people with it, don't even go by people with it. Basically when all was said and done, he held a sparkler like a statue would hold a sparkler. Then when it was done, he didn't want to do any more. I guess my pep talk was too effective. All for the better if you ask me. 

Banana splits:

There was lots of clapping, shrieking, laughing, and ooh-ing. We had a really great time, and the little fireworks were more than enough to satisfy the kids. Naturally they stayed up much too late but didn't want to leave the party. 

Sunday we had a slow start to the day since we were out late the night before. The morning consisted of a few kid videos so that mom and dad could get more rest. 

Caroline is in love with the underwear I got her. So in love with it she just walks around with an armful of it. Joel said she does it in the mornings before daycare too. 

In order to avoid a huge toddler tantrum, we had to compromise and let her it a few in her purse, to bring to grandma and grandpas. We went there for lung, then went to a housewarming party on the way home. At the party we found out the Edina parade route was already filling up with blankets from people reserving their spots, so after the party, Joel dropped me and Caroline off at home, while he and Bennett went out to reserve out parade spot. 

Sunday

Naturally we were running behind again, but managed to make it to our parade blankets little after 9, for the 10 am parade. Our blanket was still there but now all spots along the curb were filled. It was pretty crazy. The kids did a great job of waiting patiently. There were enough people and commotion going on to keep them occupied. 

Bennett's "mom, you're taking too long" smile: 

The parade was a success. The kids got way more candy than they'll ever get to eat. After we went for lunch and play outdoors at the Raffertys. We left around 2, which is an hour after Caroline's nap time. But she was having so much fun she didn't notice, and immediately fell asleep in the car. We had a quiet rest of the evening. We were all a little crabby from the busy, sleep deprived weekend but all in all, it was a good long weekend. It should be noted that after dinner on Monday Caroline pointed to her butt and said, "poop," so I took her to the toilet and she said she was all done... 15 minutes later she again pointed to her butt and said, "poop."  I was pretty annoyed after the first time but took her and sure enough she pooped. It was the first time where she told us she needed to poop. I hope this is a good sign for potty training next weekend. She seemed pretty proud of herself afterwards and clapped and cheered. Of course we clapped and cheered for a long time, and she got a gummy bear. I'm pretty impressed because prior to is actually potty training Bennett, he never told us he needed to go. We haven't been actively training Caroline, other than sitting her on the toilet once in a while, but I really hope this means she is ready!!