Independence Day

We were able to take advantage of the 4th of July holiday this year to make a trip to Oklahoma. We flew out on Sunday afternoon, leaving right around nap time. Connor was a bit more restless on the plane this time round, but did manage to take a catnap for the last half hour. He woke up as we were walking towards baggage claim, just as we were approaching Aunt Julie and Nanny. Even with Nanny sitting next to him and entertaining him in the car, he got a little cranky during the 45 minute drive, but was a happy camper again once he was released from the confines of his car seat. And with his favorite word in the whole wide world being "dawdy" (that would be "doggie" to you and I), you can imagine his wondrous delight of finding there were FIVE dawdies at Uncle Derrick's and Aunt Julie's. The two biggest dawdies, Hank and Holly, are hunting dogs and stay in their dog run most of the time. Even so, that left Sugar Baby (poodle), Harley (Boston terrier), and Gretchen (wiener) to chase. All three dogs behaved themselves . . . as far as Connor was concerned anyway. (Let's just say the little surprises left around the house and diapers pulled out of the trash didn't earn them points.) Even Gretchen, whose only loyalty is to Aunt Julie, became one of Connor's biggest fans. She followed him around, even going so far as running up the stairs and waiting for him at the top as he climbed. Connor was a bit spoiled with all the attention he got while we were there. It was a nice break for Daddy and I. There was always a cousin, aunt, uncle, or Nanny available for his every whim. He especially enjoyed reading some of his books with Caleb and Aunt Julie.
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Connor also quickly learned how much he likes swimming and playing outside. In fact, each morning rather than eat his breakfast, he would continually point to the pool, wanting to go outside. Even as warm as it was outside, we didn't venture into the pool until the afternoon. Too chilly before then.
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I think in honor of the holiday, Connor took it upon himself to declare his independence every chance he had. It got to the point where he would be walking around outside and swat away any hand that came close to him. (When Daddy was little, his favorite phrase was "I do it." I'm thinking that streak of independence was passed on to Connor.) It made us a bit nervous, especially around the swimming pool. So we let him be, but trailed right behind him for good reason. At one point he climbed up on the diving board by himself. He was immediately surrounded by several adults. Another time he bounced his ball into the pool. He walked right up to the edge, sat down, and was about to climb in after it. Fearless.
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For the holiday itself, we visited a fireworks stand and bought some doozies - thanks to Nanny. Abbey and I picked some safe favorites that we thought Connor would enjoy. Daddy, Uncle Derrick, and Caleb picked out some that you could "ooh" and "aah" over. Oklahoma doesn't have the same restrictions as Colorado. Airborn fireworks are legal. Before the show, however, we had barbecue. Yum! Some of the best brisket ever, followed up by homemade ice cream and brownies. Connor was a HUGE fan of the ice cream. In fact, I had to get a second helping since he helped himself to my first one. He dove right in with his hands. In an effort to teach him table manners, we got him a spoon. Didn't help the mess much though. Afterwards, then headed outside to start lighting up the sky. Luckily, it had rained quite a bit earlier in the day, so we didn't need to worry about it being dry. Connor was interested in the fireworks for a little bit, then decided to assert himself yet again and wanted to run around the yard. We weren't very obliging since the guys were setting off the fireworks, which didn't make him too happy. He ended up going to bed before we got to the "good" ones. The guys put on a pretty good show for us. However, we were about halfway through when we realized they were shooting them off a little too close to home and all the debris from the fireworks was floating in the pool. We took a short intermission to clean up what we could.
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All in all it was a great trip. It was fun to see the family, relax (and burn) in the pool, and eat all kinds of good food.