Fourth of July

I will be interrupting the 'Trip to Ohio' blogs to show you what we did on the Fourth of July.
First, let me start by telling you the plans. Lauren and I had the day all planned. Our husbands had to work so we were going to spend the day with the four kids by the pool here at the apartments and then let the kids rest up. After that... FIREWORKS!
Now let me tell you what REALLY happened. It rained... all day. It was dreary, cold and wet. We needed to let the kids get rid of some excess energy. New plan... Early lunch at one of the two McDonald's in the area with a Playland. After that; Monsters V Aliens at the Dollar theatre. We went to McDs and ate then went in to play. It was mayhem. There were older kids running around like crazy men. At one point Lauren pointed out the baby 'fight club' going on in the upper level. Well, eventually things calmed down. The kids played and then it was off to the movies.
The assumption was that the little ones may sleep through it. Yeah, that went well. Eli was so wound up that Lauren paced in the back of the theatre with him. At one point all four kids were back there. I eventually bribed mine back to their seats with animal crackers. Lila soon followed. There was a sweet moment where I heard Lila ask Clyde to keep her safe and Clyde reassured her that it would be OK.


The movie ended and we came back to the apartment for a rest. We had three of the kids trying to lie on the floor and watch Sponge Bob. Claudia was not quite getting the rest thing down. Keep in mind it's still raining out.


Clyde and Lila argued and tattled and drove Lauren and I crazy. There were threats from us and then we broke out some alcohol and things got a little better. The kids had a Mac and Cheese picnic on the floor. When Dave and Chad came back we ate sandwiches and hung out.
Soon, as the rain had finally ended, we headed out to the parking lot with kids and supplies in tow to watch the fireworks. We set up on a grassy patch with some cheap table cloths. People showed up with pick ups and SUVs that we used as additional seating. The kids ran around like mad monkeys.
We could see fireworks from several different parks in the area. It was pretty cool. Claudia crashed and missed all of them but that's OK. Our Fourth in IL was a pretty good time after all was said and done. A little soggy but good.