Happy Birthday America!

With Spencer off early from work on Thursday, having the day off on Friday, and Saturday packed full of patriotic activities, I can definitely say we had a very happy (and busy) 4th of July weekend! All during the week I'd been prepping Madi for the 4th- being her daddy's favorite holiday I felt she should have a good, solid understanding of what we'd be celebrating. So our library trip last week included checking out lots of books all about the 4th of July- her favorite being, "Happy Birthday America". On Saturday, when the holiday rolled around, Madi was well prepared! With birthday balloons and a patriotic cake, I think we threw a pretty good birthday party! 

We kept up with the Jenkins' tradition of homemade ice cream (not pictured) and root beer (brewing away in the pic below). Both were quite delicious I might add- by themselves, and together! Way to go Spencer!

We had friends over for a feast in the afternoon while Madi napped. Then a little after 4pm we headed into the city to claim our spot for the evening show. We decided on watching the fireworks from the Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima), which neither Spencer or I had ever been to. It was a perfect spot with a fabulous view of the Capitol, Washington Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial all lined up! I was very pleased about our spot. Plus, not only did we NOT have to deal with the Metro, but the drive in only took us 25 minutes and getting home (complete with walking back to the car) was only an hour.

Ya, we still had a 4 hour wait between arriving and showtime, but luckily it couldn't have been a more pleasant day. The weather was perfect- warm, a little overcast, and a slight breeze! We sat right in front of the bell tower, giving us additional shade as well. Madi was a champ the entire afternoon/evening. She found lots of things to keep her entertained. 

Spencer and I were well prepared and brought along an entire backpack of books! 

Madi insisted on going "HIGHER!" Is this high enough Madi!?

Madi's reaction after whipping out her blanket.

She especially loved having Stacie and Scott to hang out with! I think it was the delicious treats they had stashed away in their cooler that lured her in (the peanut M&M's were her favorite)! Sorry Madi, no soda for you!

Once Madi knew she had some buddies who would take her to see interesting things, she was hooked. 

Madi was full of hugs. . . .

And kisses for Scott!

Thank goodness for beautiful weather, good friends, great conversation, and a mellow daughter that made the 4 hours fly by. Here's the gang- waiting for the show to begin (Julie, Todd, Stacie, Scott, Madi, and Spencer).

And of course, one with me! :)

Oh, and here's that promised belly picture (I'm including 2 just to give a feel for the ginormous size I am right now). . .

38 1/2 weeks pregnant! Now THAT'S a belly!

Once it started getting dark, I changed Madi into her pj's, whipped out the binky, and let her snuggle on in for the show. Of course we had to snap a family photo for documentation! 

My favorite thing about the night was not just the fireworks, but Madi's reaction to them. She sat on Stacie's lap for the show and sitting just two seats over I could hear her yelling out, "Whoa, it's SO pretty! I LOVE it!" She kept yelling out all the colors she was seeing in the sky as well as instructing anyone that would stand up to take a picture to, "Please sit down!" I'm sure I missed a lot of the commentary, so you'll have to help me out here Stacie. :) After the show Madi summed it up for all of us by saying over and over, "That was FUN!"