July 4th pictures

We had a fun holiday weekend, even if Maggie hated the fireworks again this year. As is our tradition, we headed downtown to Coolidge Park the evening of July 3 for our symphony's Pops on the River concert, followed by fireworks. Maggie wasn't very good about staying with me, at least not early on, so I stayed stressed out most of the evening, just trying to keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't get lost in the huge crowds.

Last year she hated the fireworks and sat in my lap crying while they went off. (The previous two years, she had been fine.) But last year she was also going through a weird phase where loud noises really bothered her ... so much so that I took her to the doctor, we were sent for special hearing tests, etc. Everything turned out fine, and Maggie seemed to outgrow the issue, so I never really followed up. Even though she isn't as bothered by loud noises now, I took sound-muffling headphones to this year's celebration, just in case. And even with her headphones on, she still freaked out when the fireworks started. I think this year it was more than the noise; she also seemed afraid that the fireworks were going to land on her and burn her. She kept saying they would be hot, and she was crying to go home. There was no way we could have packed up all our stuff and gotten out of there quickly, so I ended up sitting under a tent with her, and she covered herself up with a towel, even taking care to ensure that her toes were covered!!

The next day, all day, Maggie kept muttering to herself, "I don't know why I didn't like the fireworks. I thought I liked them at first, but then I really didn't like them." The night of July 4, we watched a lot of fireworks ... on TV. Some neighbors were shooting them off, but after about 10 seconds of watching in the driveway, Maggie wanted to go back inside. She felt fine with a roof over her head, so we stood in her bedroom window and watched the neighbor's fireworks, along with some bigger ones we could see off in the distance.

Here are some pictures from our fun:

Where's Waldo? Maggie is hiding in the bushes at Coolidge Park.



She had just discovered the cookies I'd baked for the picnic:




Playing around under the Walnut Street Bridge.


Our friend's son Hudson turns one next week and is starting to walk. Maggie had the best time trying to coax him to walk to her ...



... and then letting him collapse on top of her!



The wonderful Courtney, who works in our church nursery, came and visited us at our "campsite." I love this picture of her and Cason.