4th of July Recap

You are probably expecting this post to be filled with cute pictures of my children in their matching red, white and blue t-shirts, holding sparklers and enjoying fireworks.

But you won't be seeing any of that in this post. Because my parents took the boys for the entire 4th of July weekend and Brian and I had the chance to just chill by ourselves.

It was still a weekend filled with sparklers and fireworks, but definitely a lot different experience when you don't have your little ones there to "Ooo and Ahhh" over every colorful explosion.

But first, let me back up a bit...

Thursday night, July 3rd, we decided to set off some leftover New Year's Eve fireworks with our neighbors. Parker carried the bag around with him all evening until it was finally dark enough to set them off.

Our neighbor's back yard, just before a storm rolled through earlier in the evening.

Parker inspecting the fireworks bag. I think he would have climbed inside of it if he fit.

Parker and our neighbor, Cameron, watching the bottle rockets.

Our neighbor, Dave, setting off the fireworks in the street.

The kids watching from the back of the car. They loved it!

Then, early Friday morning, July 4th, we met my parents and my brother, his wife and their son, Joel, at the World's Largest McDonald's on I-Drive in Orlando. The place is half restaurant, half Chuck E. Cheese on steroids. There are tons of arcade games, a huge play area with tunnels, and even a mini bowling alley! The kids had a ball playing while the adults chatted.

Apparently, the "kids" weren't the only ones who enjoyed the arcade games. ;)

So once we finished breakfast and kissed everyone goodbye, we all headed out in separate directions... my parents with all three kids (our two, plus my nephew Joel) went back to their house, my brother and his wife went house hunting, and Brian and I headed back to Tampa... with a quick stop at the Orlando outlet malls.

In celebration of the 4th, I ordered a fancy watermelon margarita at lunch. Because when it's an American holiday and you have no kids with you, it just seems like the right thing to do!

And then we went to a 4th of July celebration at a local harbor that had live music, tons of food/product vendors and more people watching that anyone could ask for!

A view of the boardwalk where we watched fireworks that evening.

Lots of happy folks enjoying the 4th. You can see the band stage in the background.

Just chillin.

Obligatory "selfie" on the pier.

Then a quick rain shower came through, which didn't deter people one bit. Most folks just went under one of the many picnic shelters and then once the rain died down, everyone went right back to their seats. And then this beautiful rainbow appeared in the sky!

The fireworks were stunning!

 It was a wonderful, relaxing 4th of July.

The next day we enjoyed a very lazy morning, did some work around the house, ran errands, and then went to meet some friends at a local marina for dinner.

It was so nice to have a weekend to ourselves. We relished every minute of sleeping in, watching non-cartoon shows on TV, not paying a babysitter, and quietness... but I also missed my boys so much.

We were very happy to have our little guys home on Sunday evening.

I hope you had wonderful 4th of July and that you are enjoying your summer. The next several weeks are full of travel and family fun for us, so I won't be very visible around here. Enjoy the rest of your summer and be safe!

Summer Goals

Here in the Heckman household, we are in full-blown summer mode.

The kids are staying up a bit later (sometimes a lot a bit later); I am allowing myself the luxury of sleeping in till 7 a.m. on most mornings; there are far more Popsicles and pool play dates than ever before; and things just overall have a more relaxed feel to them.

Today for instance, we left the house at 9:30 to go to the movies with our neighbors. Only to return to take naps, read, and relax until we left to go pick up another friend for a sleepover. Which will undoubtedly involve more swimming, staying up late and ice cream.

Granted, not all days are like this, but I am relishing the ones that are.

And speaking of fun summer things... we recently decided it was time for the boys to start sharing a room. We've been wanting to "bunk them up" for a while now, but wanted to wait until school was out in case Parker kept Payton up during the night.

The first night was a little rough, but by night 3, they both seemed to be falling asleep and staying asleep all night. Next up, bunk beds! Of course, this will require me to sell, get rid of, store, hide, move the crib out of the room, but one step at a time...

For now, I'm just loving listening to them on the baby monitor when they first wake up in the morning...the adorable chatter, the giggles, and the invite from big brother to come snuggle in his bed. Priceless.

I'm also taking time this summer to teach the boys some kitchen basics.

I realized that - to my own fault - I have always done all the cooking around here. Unless it was cookies or brownies, I rarely ever involved the kids in meal preparation. But with more time on our hands these days, I am trying to integrate them in the cooking process. Who knows... maybe it will help with their finicky food choices if they help prepare the food???

Another personal goal this summer is to cut down on the clutter. Not just the tangible, every day clutter (although that is definitely included), but also the mental clutter...

...the incessant emails from every web site that I've ever visited, the worrisome thoughts about life that worrying absolutely does not change, the mental confusion over our summer vacation/camp/work calendars that I have been continually messing up lately...

... that kind of mental clutter.

I started tackling this goal yesterday by going through my inbox and "unsubscribing" to all of the emails that I get from unnecessary web sites. Yes, some of them are good, and some of them are fun to look at (especially those shopping web sites!!), but they do not benefit my mental clarity on a daily basis. They entice me to buy things I don't need; covet things I don't have/do; and feel anxious that I'm "missing out on such a great deal!" if I do not buy them.

I'm taking things one step at a time this summer...baby steps if you will... moving from crib to "big boy bed"... from mental confusion and worry, to more margin and space in my brain... from doing all the cooking myself, to involving the family to help out.

I'll report back in August and let ya know how things are going. And until then, you'll probably see a lot less posting here on my blog. I'm taking a summer vacation of sorts. Not technically leaving town or anything, just spending more time doing other things.

If you'd like to keep up with us more frequently, please follow me on Instagram (@StacyHeckman). Until later my friends... enjoy your summer... Popsicles and all!