Did Somebody Say Montage?

The Fourth of July: one of those holidays that historically has not played well with our family.  Take a puppy who is terrified of boomers, a girl and her autism who are not fans of crowds or noisy places and things, and pop them into a teeny tiny town with a big celebration.  Stir, and you've got the equivalent of human Mentos and diet Coke, if you know what I mean, Vern.

Last year was the first time we took The Princess and ran before they shut down the road for the parade.  This parade involves all of our small town's firetrucks, sirens wailing, and about eight hundred and forty-two more vehicles.  Kids march in the parade for their baseball teams, the ski team is represented, as are all area politicians.  Candy is thrown from floats and cars alike, and it's really kind of fun if you like that kind of thing.

Last year's trip to the state park during this craziness was so relaxing, we decided to do it again.  Before lunch, we packed up the kiddos and got the heck out of Dodge.

Our little picnic in the shade...the weather was just
perfect - about 75 and sunny.

The Princess was excited to get to the playground.

From there, we took our guard Piggy to another playground nearby.

The Princess thought this one was pretty great - it was our first time here.

It's nice to know I'm not the only one looking out for our girl.
Such a regal pup.

This playground was seriously cool.

This came a split second before...

...she jumped.

This beautiful covered picnic area is huge, and it even
has a fireplace.

A Piggy and her momma.

And, as every good underdog movie editor knows, sometimes you just need a montage.  Here's one of my girl during Sprinklerpalooza on the afternoon of the 4th, while the rest of the town was down at the lakefront watching the ski team's annual show.

After playing in the sprinkler, we went inside for a bit to dry off and calm down.  This is when I began my annual "I wish someone besides me wanted to see the fireworks" ho-hummitude.  I know I can go by myself, but somehow that just doesn't seem as fun.

The Princess wanted to snuggle up with me on the couch, so on a whim I showed her a couple of videos of fireworks on my phone.  She.  Was.  Mesmerized.

Huh.  I wondered.  I hemmed.  I hawed.

I asked her if she'd like to see fireworks down by the lake, and without a moment's hesitation she nodded her head and grunted to the affirmative.  For better or worse, I decided, we were gonna try this.

She was super-excited to go for a walk with me, and she even carried her
own bag chair all the way down to the lake.

Getting close to dark, and we got a great spot.

Tom Petty was right...the waiting is the hardest part.

And then - just when I thought for sure she was going to wiggle right out
of my grasp - she plopped back into her seat in awe.

I was afraid the noise would be too much.  There was no way to know
until we were there, in the thick of it.  I needn't have worried.  There
were happy flappies all over the place and not a panicky moment
to be had.

She loved it.  Seven years old, and my girl has finally experienced her
first fireworks display.  I'll tell ya this: it won't be the last.  I smell
a new tradition forming.

The rest of the weekend has been spent doing as much family stuff as we can.  Piggy has accompanied us pretty much everywhere, except the places where she's not allowed.  She has also developed a deep and meaningful relationship with her current rawhide bone, who we've dubbed Wilson after Tom Hanks' volleyball friend from Castaway.  Ya know, because Wilson keeps her company while she's all alone.

Going out on a limb here, I'm guessing this girl just
hates going to the lake.  Right?  Heh.

Today was overcast, and the water was a bit too cold for me, but Da is
way braver than I am.  He must have tossed The Princess twenty
times, and you should have heard the squees of joy.

Running along shore

About to launch herself off the pier

After a while, she decided it was super fun to just get
her momma's back all wet and clammy.  Can't say
I disagreed too much.  I'll take hugs from my girl
any day of the week.

The Princess's last day of summer school was Wednesday, and now we're dealing with the annual transition from lots of structure to loosy-goosy vacation land.  She has another new tooth coming in, and it's wreaking havoc on her poor little head.  Never a dull moment, I tell ya.

Ooh!  And we may have figured out what we're gonna do for our vacation next year.  It involves a big-ass road trip and somewhere between four and nine national parks.  More to come on that later. :)