Our Fourth of July weekend was busy in the best way, and we were grateful for the time to celebrate together. The holiday began Thursday afternoon with a family walk around a local park we’d never visited before. It was hot, but the scenery made being outside worthwhile.
One of our favorite spots was a shaded tunnel that runs under the road. Clara could have stayed in there for hours, enjoying the cool shade and the simple thrill of a little hidden passage.
It’s where we took a great photo that day and shared it on Instagram.
Yes, it was very hot, but that didn’t stop us from making the most of the afternoon.
After getting home to cool off and rest—Clara napped while the rest of us relaxed—we went over to a neighbor’s house for a small BBQ. Being invited to a neighborhood gathering so soon after moving in made us feel welcome, and Clara had a blast running around the backyard with another little girl, who quickly became her new best friend for the day.
The evening held more excitement. Around 8 PM, which is close to Clara’s usual bedtime, we met up with my family to watch local fireworks. The fireworks were scheduled after the local Squirrels baseball game, so we joined a crowd of people in the Science Museum parking lot to wait for the end of the ninth inning. To pass the time we made faces, played little games and tried to pick a winner—Todd ended up winning, in case you’re wondering.
By the time the fireworks finished it was close to 10 PM, so we decided to call it a night and get some sleep before more guests arrived the next morning. Clara’s cousins Elsa and Edison, along with their parents, came down for the day and stayed overnight—our first official guests in the new house.
Saturday was relaxed. We spent time on the deck, went out to lunch, and let the kids play. The girls even tried a lemon for the first time, and they were fascinated by the sour taste. Later, we all enjoyed the free friends-and-family evening at the local pool, which was a perfect way to cool off and let the kids splash around.
The celebrations picked up again the next morning, which happened to be my sister Katie’s birthday. She and her family had come down from New York for the weekend, and we hosted a casual birthday breakfast in our kitchen. I got up early to make a simple sign—one of my mom’s traditional birthday banners—and added a playful nod to her favorite 80s rock band. I blurred her age on the sign out of respect for her privacy.
We kept the food straightforward: pancakes and scrambled eggs from our kitchen, and some delicious dishes contributed by family members. It felt good to use up a few leftover party plates and to enjoy an easy, homey meal together.
Having six kids under four in the house at once was a lively test of how well our home functions with a crowd. Despite the chaos behind the scenes, the children had fun and the house held up just fine. Our dog Burger seemed unfazed by the commotion and carried on as usual.
When breakfast ended and Elsa’s family headed back to Northern Virginia, we had a little downtime before the next visitors arrived. Sherry’s brother Dan—known to Clara as Uncle Monkey—his wife Ali, and their dog Sasha drove down from New Jersey for a short visit. We spent part of the day at one of our favorite parks, enjoying the fresh air and easy company.
Clara is at the age where she prefers walking more than being pushed in a stroller, which I love because it means she explores more. That said, it sometimes leads to routes that aren’t stroller-friendly, and I find myself carrying the stroller or doing an impromptu retrieval mid-walk when she decides she’s done with the ride.
Whether we had the stroller or not, the visit from Sherry’s family was full of laughs and hugs. Clara is clearly smitten with her Uncle Monkey, and their bond is one of the sweetest parts of the weekend for us.
Dan, Ali and Sasha left early the next morning to beat the holiday traffic, which left us with a quieter day to ourselves. That was a nice way to end the weekend, especially because it also happened to be our wedding anniversary—an occasion worthy of its own story, which I’ll save for another post.