4 Day 4th

What an awesome 4 day weekend!!

Allow me to break it down for ya...

Wednesday evening, I presented a Spa Party at my friend's house in Sammamish. It was...well...it was fun despite the guests being the worst case scenario people to have at a party like that :)

Thursday was the 4th. America's Birthday! Our best friends host a 4th of July party every year, so we went over after Brooklyn's nap. The girls had an awesome time, we had BBQ, too many cupcakes, fruit, etc. Brooklyn ate 2 hot dogs. Yes, that's right. 2 hot dogs. To herself. She's awesome in every way. Abigail played in the sandbox all day & got banned from coming inside the house. After dinner we lit off the kid-friendly fireworks. Then evening came & we sat all the kids in the back of Brandon's Tahoe to watch the big fireworks with blankets. They of course ended up trashing his car, but it was a great time!

Friday I took off work & headed to mom's (Nana's) house. We went for a nature walk/hike on Tiger Mountain with the girls & found a neat trail that guided you on a search for the "Swamp Monster". Abby got really into the whole Swamp Monster thing & I carried that through the entire weekend. Now I have a way of getting her out of the bathtub (which is always a battle). She's now well aware she could turn  into a "swamp girl" if she stays in dirty bath water too long, so we've shortened our average bath time by about 10 minutes :) My mom does not approve of these parenting tactics. I take pride in them.

Saturday Brandon took us to breakfast. Abby ordered pancakes, and we figured Brooklyn could share with her. I ordered a scramble (eggs, ham, peppers). Of course Brooklyn scrunched her nose at the pancakes & insisted on using a fork & helping herself to MY scramble. Good thing eggs are healthy cause that kid loves her some eggs! It's seriously like taking 2 monkeys to a restaurant when we go these days, so for multiple reasons dining out is rare. Brooklyn refused to sit in the highchair, or sit at all for that matter. Abby demanded juice AND milk AND water AND her own bowl of fruit, and then refused to eat half of what she ordered. Oh and she made "smudge art" on the restaurant window. They're welcome.

After that, Abby had a playdate with her best friend, Cage. Cage's mom is a teacher so he doesn't go to daycare during the summer. It was a sweet reunion. We met at a very nice, large park on the lake. The kids didn't play on the actual equipment at all. They played in the sand. I had just washed Abby's hair for the 3rd time that morning to get the remaining 4th of July sand out of her hair. Now we had to start all over.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Brandon's cousin's farmhouse in the country. I love it there. It's so relaxing and fun and reminds me of my childhood. They have a garden with all sorts of amazing fresh veggies, horses, pastures, porch swings...love it! The girls both got to ride Casey's new pony. It was Brooklyn's first time around horses & she threw the worst fit of her life when I took her off the horse. We're going on a family vacation with the cousins next month & I'm sure it's going to be a blast!

Sunday we stuck around the house. Abby vacuumed with a small vacuum I bought at walmart for $14. Best $14 ever spent! It's light weight enough for Abby to handle well & she's obsessed with vacuuming! woohoo! We were a bit lazy early in the day & watched a movie, then while Brooklyn napped Abby helped me wash my car. It's her first car wash but somehow she knew it'd be funny to turn the hose on me! She actually did a pretty great job, considering. Then we cleaned out the inside of the car, Abby vacuumed & cleaned the mirrors. Brooklyn woke up & hung out with us while we finished up. Then we played with sidewalk chalk & had popsicles. After that we painted flower pots & then it was most definitely bath time! For all the fun we had this weekend, I think it might have been a bit much for the kiddos. They were both impossible to put to bed last night. I'm actually slightly glad it's Monday & we can all get back on schedule now.



This was Brooklyn at 2 hours past her bedtime last night. I was so mad, I just took a picture so I'd have evidence of what a brat she was being!