to blog, or not to blog

I figured since EVERYONE else was blogging about their Fourth of July weekend, I might as well do the same; however, I am reluctant to do so because it wasn't very exciting. (hence the reason for no pictures. *gasp!!!! Actually, I managed to forget my camera through our amazing adventure)

Okay, so Jakob's birthday was a huge success! We managed to dodge the rain and really enjoy the day before independence day. Our weekend was looking good.

Friday morning rolls around and the dreaded phrase that ALWAYS goes into question was asked: What do you want to do today? Me being the big "pary" planner started brainstorming. It was hard work, especially because I'm not familiar with how CT does things around the 4th.

So I planned for the usual parade, picnic/BBQ, fireworks, etc. and the day was nearly complete. Only one problem...while looking online for community information I found out the closest parade was 35 miles away, during the heart of Jakob's nap time, and the fire work shows were all scheduled for the July 3rd. PERFECT!!! I was actually quite disappointed.

We thrwarted onward and made new plans: Going on a hike, picnic in the mountains, swimming at the pool, BBQ ribs, and fireworks.

Our day ended up going something like this:

Part 1
put the BBQ ribs in the oven for slow cooking

wait for Jakob to wake up from nap at 10:30

finish making and packing lunches for our picnic

follow GPS directions to the nearest hiking trail

found a trail that said "Blackledge Falls" (Sounds cool, right? Like there might be some pretty sweet falls at the end of the trail?)

start the hike

get lost on the hike-because there are a million other loops off the main trail

walk under big power lines, because we were technically still in a residential area

walk right into a swarm of mosquitos-luckily we were armed with bug spray

got to the end of the trail.....no Blackledge Falls to be seen, although we could hear them

turned around and tried to find our own trail to the rushing water

finally found a trail near the falls and realized we were back at the beginning

walked through a jungle of vines and trees

got to the falls and realized it was actually a man-made reservoire titled something cool

saw snakes in the trees we had just walked through

tried to find courage to walk back through the snake filled trees

decided that I should lead the group and ended up slipping in a mud hole after seeing a snake on the ground

ran as fast as I could to the beginning of the trail-Danny followed laughing

realized that hikes in CT don't necessarily mean there is going to be something spectacular at the end :)

Part 2

decided not to eat our picnic lunch near the snakes
tried to find a park

found a park that cost 12 dollars....yeah right

decided it was getting close to Jakob's second nap so we should just picninc at home

had a picnic in our backyard

took a nap-Jakob and I did

Part 3

woke up ready to go swimming

walked outside and realized it was too cold and windy for swimming

stayed home and watched T.V.

got a call from grandparents, but started feeling bad when they mentioned they were headed to a BBQ at big brother's house

ate BBQ ribs, potatoes and cooked carrots

ate cake

decided to put Jakob to bed, since there weren't any big firework events near us

Part 4

watched more TV

heard fireworks outside, but couldn't see anything

sat outside in the dark, watching fireflies and the moon-while listening to other families enjoy their firework filled holiday

CRIED......yes, i cried. No fireworks for the 4th? Who are we?

went to bed

See why I hesitated to post? Pathetic, I know. But that is what we did. I guess it was fun and filled with adventure, but nothing like what I'm use to doing with family in Utah. *tear

Oh, and another reason for crying was because I remembered that we brought Jakob home from the hospital on the fourth. Danny and I watched fireworks from our front door in riverton, while holding our baby. AWWWWW. Precious!