Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth of July, or Independence Day! We had planned a Fourth of July party at our home for some friends to watch the awesome Bellingham city fireworks - until we realized that they started at 10 p.m. Obviously, that's a dumb idea. One clear indication that you have a baby in your home is the desire to get to bed before midnight. Or, it means that we're getting old. Either way, no party.

 So, our new plan is that Chris and I are doing an afternoon date (that's a lie or perhaps just an optimistic euphemism; we've hired a baby sitter so we can get 3 hours to clean the garage and 1 hour for a date afternoon. We are a barrel of fun!). Rest assured, my goal is for Jamisen to be wearing his bow tie onesie all day.  Judging from his expression below, I'm not quite positive that's in the stars (ha ha, stars?! Get it!? Punny!).

We're hoping for some baby park time (Jamisen loves the park) and some serious craft time. Look for crafting photos later today. We had a great time eating blueberries and eggs this morning and then jetted out for a quick hike to the beach before morning nap time.

Supposedly, eating gets and stays messy for a while now. The ants seem to have taken up permanent residence in our kitchen floorboards in hopes that this is true. I am certain this is not a statement on my housecleaning abilities but the opportunistic nature of ants.

We feel so lucky and blessed to have a sunny, rain-free day (according to the weatherman!) and we're trying to take advantage of every second of it. In fact, Chris is out swimming (in a wetsuit; it's still super cold) Lake Padden right now. He's swimming with his new bromance, Bryan, who is the one that encouraged him to run the marathon last year. Now, they're aiming for a triathlon.

  

 Jamisen loves to climb and explore now that he's getting mobile and we're delighted to help him. And by "we", I mostly mean Chris since I'm too busy documenting every precious moment via camera. Note to self: Try to live in the moment better.

As soon as he's up from his morning nap, I have a really fun craft project planned. At least, in my mind it's fun. It could just be a messy red, white and blue shaving cream disaster (see, you're intrigued, aren't you?). Check back for photos later.

Update: The foam project was a disaster.

 Well, not really a disaster. Jamisen was just not as interested as I thought he would be in dying shaving foam with food coloring. I thought he would like the color and texture. He instead was absolutely delighted with stacking the food coloring bottles.






And then Daddy showed up with a surprise - a sandbox! I lost Jamisen to the allure of the empty sandbox instantly. Literally, the little man threw down his food coloring bottles and faster than a giant spider in a horror movie, crawled over and into the sandbox.

When it was filled with sand, there was no getting him out. He's sleeping now and I hope he stays that way through the fireworks in an hour. Happy Fourth of July!