God Bless America! (aka, the longest post in the history of this blog)

Fourth of July was an AMAZING weekend this year.  Which is good, because it needed to be, so we wouldn't feel homesick for our annual Egan cookout or Revere Beach Mallett tradition.

We spent Friday night at the pool with friends and neighbors, with drinks for the grownups and swimming for the kiddos, until finally Ben could take it no more and we had to head home to put our little buddy to bed. 

On Saturday, one of the hottest days of the summer so far, our neighbors had a pool party which we thoroughly enjoyed since in the past, WE were always the ones having the pool party instead of being invited to one! 

Molly showed her national and Red Sox pride with an awesome bow from Bow Sox Bows.  My friend Sandy hooked us up with a box full of gorgeous bows!

It was all Marc could do to hold Ben still for a picture before he got his floaties on and jumped into the pool.  No sooner had I turned around to put my camera away from this picture, when I turned back around to see a soaking wet, fully clothed Marc.   When Ben jumped in, he held his slippy, sunscreened arms up over his head and his floaties slipped off!  With Hasselhoff-like reflexes, Marc jumped in and saved the day.  He repeated the Baywatch performance later, when he fished a two year old out after he jumped in with no life jacket on.  Our Hero!

As if the pool wasn't enough fun, one of our neighbors brought their new ATVs that they'd bought for their lake house ("lake house" is the midwestern equivalent to "beach house" in New England).  Jack got the first ride, and was in HEAVEN. 

Someone else was very jealous. 

We tried the old "donut distraction" routine...

But it didnt' work.

Finally, one of the guys offered to give him a little ride - just enough to make him happy, but save me the heart attack.

I still had a heart attack.

It happened that we'd booked a babysitter for the night, way before we knew there was a party to go to.  We just needed to get out!  So as the late afternoon exhaustion set in, we ordered pizza delivery from the pool, took (dragged!) the kids home, threw them in the tub, put them in pajamas, fed them the pizza and popped in a movie.  Our babysitter, Anum, arrived a few minutes later and Marc and I headed back to the party for the evening without our entourage.  For once, our timing was perfect!

It turned out that some of the guys had gone to Indiana earlier in the week to get contraband fireworks and planned a pretty amazing spectacle.  So Marc went back home and got Jack so he wouldn't miss it.  That's parenthood for ya!  Even when you enact the escape clause you still can't turn it off!

The fireworks were pretty stinking amazing by backyard standards...

It might have been a little too much for our sensitive kid.  But I think getting out after dark, and without Molly and Ben in tow, made it worth it for him. 

And the sparklers!  He was a big fan of the sparklers.

Here he is two-fisting them.  And my favorite shot of the night, though it wasn't of my child, is this one...

That's Molly's friend Olivia, who collapsed in a heap of tears shortly after this picture because the poor thing was so tired!  She was a trooper though and made it through far longer than our kids would have.

We spent Sunday regrouping, and on Monday, Independence Day, we got to march in a parade with Jack's Cub Scout Pack.  I thought it was just a little 'neighborhood parade' but it turned out to be attended by the Mayor and followed by a huge block party.  It was covered by the local paper and Jack, who was standing in front of the Mayor during the flag ceremony, made it onto the front page!!

The parade reminded me so much of my own childhood - all the good, happy, thoughts I can conjure up - of decorated bikes and neighborhood games, and that time my dad and Uncle John got some fireworks from goodness knows where, and we watched them in the dark while we sat on the hood of the station wagon way past our bedtime.  I think that was for a family party though, not sure if it was the fourth.

As if that weren't enough, we got to enjoy the afternoon with our favorite local Egans (okay, our ONLY local Egans!) and snuggle our favorite baby cousin (again, he's our ONLY baby cousin?  But even if he wasn't, he'd still be our favorite!) 

With all the food we had you would have thought we were feeding an army, but no...it was just us! 

And let me tell you, it was YUMMY! 



 We even had Auntie Ulia's octopus dip!  Before you faint and think my children have turned a corner in their culinary repertoire, I mean THIS kind of octopus...

She spoils us!!

Seriously?  Homemade mint chocolate chip Oreo crust ice cream pie?

SPOILS US!!

Uncle Paul got in on the action and decorated a flag cake for us.  Can you say S-P-O-I-L-E-D??

We are so lucky they like us :)  And we like them right back.

At the end of the day, we shared a few sparklers with our neighbors, the Nelsons.

Then we joined them on tthe 18th hole of Naperbrook Golf Course and watched the Bolingbrook fireworks.  Watching the kids squeal with delight, I couldn't help but hope that when they grow up they'll think back to this time and remember it as magical. 

Naperville is a city, but the area we live in, with it's large, close knit neighborhoods, feels so much more like a small town.  Just right for our little family, especially on a special holiday like the Fourth of July. 

Happy Independence Day to all,

and to all a good night!



I said "tomorrow" but of course I really *meant* MONDAY!!

Let's get down to brass tacks shall we?  Jack wanted James Bond and James Bond he got!  Dressed in his tuxedo t-shirt, he played the part of "009" for all it was worth.  All the secret agents in his posse converged on Chasers Laser Tag the morning of his birthday and had a time that can only be described as the stuff 9 year old boys' dreams are made of.

Take a look...

The nicest family owns this place, and goes to great lengths to make sure that every kid has a great time.  They even change their space around and repaint yearly because they have so many repeat customers they don't want it to get boring.  The theme for 2011 was Sharks, and for 2012 it will be Dragons!

We started out with video games for the secret agents.  Did I mention the place was SPOTLESS?  My three little spies BEG on a regular basis, to go to the arcade or to the dreaded Chuck E. Cheese.  Not a chance I say.  First they kill you by sucking your pocketbook dry...then they kill you with germ warfare.  But not Chasers - it was a mom's dream come true!  Clean and FREE - every game was included in the package price.

Then we moved on to "battle stations".  There are ten game pods linked side by side, each holding up to two players.  The kids role play robotic gladiators in a stadium, but the other robots are all their buddies!  Each station has one gladiator in the ring and they all battle each other to be the last robot standing. 

Even the littlest ones could have fun because there were dozens of built in second chances.  And Daddy to help with the steering.

This secret agent's codename was "Goofball"

Each battle station had it's own shark name, and the scores were tallied and reported at the end of the battle.

Then it was time for what they'd all been waiting for. 

First a little lesson in Lasertag 101 for the new recruits from our party chaperone, Kyle.

And then it was time to suit up!!

Each agent wore a special vest with an attached laser blaster.  The vest had receptors on the front, back and shoulders and if anyone on the opposing team hit those targets, the player who got hit would lose function in their laser and be unable to participate in the game for three seconds.

They were heavy, but no one complained for a second!

The game room was pretty intense, with music blaring and neon lights flashing.  There were multiple levels with obstacles and hiding spots.

It was nearly impossible to take pictures because it was so dark, but I'm sure you can imagine that a whole lot of fun was had!  In the end, the red team was victorious!

They also worked up some MAJOR appetites!

This secret agent indulged in his very first soda (he was beyond excited at this) and proceeded to polish off FOUR slices of pizza.  He ate more than any of the big kids.  No kidding. 

Then it was back to the arcade for a second round...

...back to the battle stations for one more gladiator battle...

...back to the game room for one last round of laser tag...

...and back to the party foom to open their manila envelopes and pose for a picture.

The boys from our neighborhood were the last to leave, and I'm pretty sure they can't wait to go back.

I wonder who's birthday is next?

Did I say tomorrow?    I meant it, really I did.  Then I got sideswiped by life for two weeks.  It was a really good reminder of why I keep things simple. 

As in, the kids take karate lessons on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  SIMPLE! 

But they really, really, REALLY wanted to take tennis lessons this summer. 

So, the kids take karate lessons on Tuesday and Thursday evenings AND tennis lessons on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.  Still pretty simple.

But Jack really, really, REALLY wanted to go to karate camp. 

And it was only three days in one week, so for one week it wouldn't be so bad. 

Not so simple, but doable.

But then my neighbors were moving and they really, really, REALLY needed someone to watch their kids while the packers were there.  For three days.  Overlapping with karate camp.  And tennis lessons.

AHA!  There it was...the threshold from SIMPLE to TOTAL WACKADOO was right there in between "camp" and "packers".  And I totally ignored it.  For not one, but TWO weeks, because this week Molly had something important and special and one time only to do (it's called Safety Town and I'll try to post about it soon) but it was for 90 minutes a day, in the MIDDLE of the day, all.  week.  long.  Which meant we couldn't go home because there wasn't enough time to get back.  And yet, we had to eat lunch while she was there.  So we ate out or starved FIVE DAYS IN A ROW.

(Deep cleansing breath)  This was an incredibly good reminder of why I deliberately choose to keep it simple. 

Because the backlash is this;

• Molly has peed her pants all over town this week
• Ben has peed his pants all over town this week
• I have yelled at all my children on a daily basis
• Ben has hit/punched/kicked/spat upon anyone within his reach
• Jack is his 'worst self', which includes talking back, being rude and mean, and generally being a jerk.  Oh and crying and screaming all day long for a wide variety of equally ludicrous reasons.
• I have not slept all week
• The house is a wreck

I am all done.  DONE I TELL YOU!  Thank you universe for the reminder. 

Laser tag.  Tomorrow.  I promise.  :)