Celebrating Red, White and Blue with Family "Firsts" and "Lasts"

With a husband who works in the media, holidays don’t always mean days off work.  In actuality, this year JC has only been able to celebrate one holiday at home with us – New Year’s Day.  This can make it difficult to plan any trips to visit family or fun outings, but we were determined to make the best of the 4^th of July this year despite his obligation to work that day.

The reason why, this was Anderson’s last “first” holiday.  She will no longer be able to wear “Baby’s First” outfits proudly.  It makes me nostalgic for the past days of infancy, but her new developments and discoveries she’s making almost daily are amazing to watch as she gets older.

To honor this last “first” holiday we decided to celebrate with a new activity, and one of her favorites: a parade and swimming.  Both of which are staples for the 4^th.

The 4^th of July parade in Sullivan wasn’t her first parade.  She was actually at the Eastern Illinois University homecoming parade; however that parade proved to be pretty boring.  She slept through it.  The 4^th of July parade was her first that she actually sat through with inquisitive interest in the loud noises from the police cars and fire trucks, funny little cars and mopeds driving in circles and various other floats, people and horses walking through the event.   Having a small child with us also made us prime zone for Popsicle throwing. 

If you remember from this post, Anderson is a little baby fish.  She loves being in the water.  The warm, beautiful weather made swimming a must on this holiday.  For a very short period of time we were able to spend some time splashing around in the pool with family before JC had to head into work.

We continued our 4^th of July celebration on Saturday with a day spent on the boat.  I’ve written about my fun summers the past five years on Mill Creek Lake with our family.  We’ve made many treasured memories floating around in the waters of the lake, and sailing across the water in our little speed boat.  Due to busy schedules we’ve not been able to use the boat as much as we should, so our family has decided to part ways with it.  

Saturday served as a beautiful day to say good-bye to the little Stingray.  Besides a grumpy baby when the lifejacket was put on – the rest of the day could not have been any better.  Bright sunshine, the smell of sunscreen, a band playing on a nearby dock and a few cruises on the lake topped off our last day of fun on Mill Creek Lake for a little while. 

As the “firsts” chapter of Anderson’s life comes to a close with her first birthday looming before us, I will relish in the remaining “firsts” of her life and treasure the memories we’ve made along the way.