Our first 4th as a family of 3

We're back from our holiday weekend in Hubs' hometown, and I must say that Sweetie Pea's first Independence Day was a smashing success. Which is great, considering how much work it was to pack everyone (me, Hubs, Sweets and the dog) up for a two day trip. In my life BB (before baby) I suffered from a serious case of chronic overpacking. I have worked hard to overcome it for myself, but I may need a 12-step program to cure it when it comes to packing for my kid. Let's just say the Volv was *slightly* crammed with half the contents of our house the essentials. But I digress. Here's our weekend in pictures!

Waiting for the parade to start with Grandma G, Daddy, Great Grandma C, and Great Grandma G

Ok, enough parade. Did someone say Puffs?

He hung in there until the end!

After the parade we had lunch and headed back to Great Gram's for a nap. All that fresh air and excitement tired us out - Sweets and I fell asleep in the guest room and napped for 2 1/2 hours! Best nap I've had since he was born!

Refreshed and revitalized, we went for a swim and dinner at Hubs' Aunt and Uncle's house. After that it was bedtime for Sweets, and GiGi was kind enough to stay with him while Hubs and I went out for ice cream and fireworks with friends.

Random self-portrait. Please ignore my super-creepy grin in the background.

After spending the early part of the day with GiGi, we packed up and headed to a local and very popular berry farm where we enjoyed fresh strawberry sorbet:

Then we made a quick stop at a marina that Hubs loved as a kid to walk on the dock and see the boats.

Sweets was pretty much over our little outing at this point. You can see that glazed-over "I'd rather be napping" look on his face.

Headed for home after a very busy, but very fun two days!

One thing I had to work hard at while we were out and about was relaxing my death-grip on Sweetie Pea's schedule. I happen to be a girl who loves a schedule. Some people might call that being a killjoy, and sometimes, they're right. But I put a ton of work, sweat and tears in to get Sweets' sleeping to where it is now and I can't help but be a little protective over it. Besides, it is totally not fun to hang out with a cranky, overtired baby. Anyway, I did let the schedule slide a bit and it didn't bite me too bad. His sleep is a bit off at this point, but I have the whole week to fix it :-) And do the mountain of laundry our little excursion generated...

I hope your Independence Day weekend was equally as enjoyable!