Our Fourth of July STAYcation

We stayed home this long, holiday weekend.  Mostly due to Pukey McPuker Pants.  He recovered quickly but one can never quite tell if or when the bug will spread to another family member.  So instead of risking a sicky in the car or, worse, spreading the virus to a relative, we had ourselves a little STAYcation.

"Stop calling it that!" Brian demanded.  "It sounds so lame."

Whatever.  It is what it is.

The STAYcation started Friday morning cause mom was feeling fun.  And when mom feels fun everyone can have fun.

Recently we discovered a hidden gem when we were walking with the kids across a Mississippi River bridge into Minneapolis.  A new-ish wading pool.  For free.  In a gorgeous park.

[For those non-locals, Minneapolis and St. Paul really are TWIN cities only separated by this majestic river.  I often take for granted that the river is a mere six blocks from our house.  I shouldn't because it's totally awesome.]

Anyway, to the wading pool we went on Friday morn.

Brian's office shut down at 2 p.m. that day so we decided to make good use of the extra time and take the kids to the Como Park Zoo followed by a few amusement rides at Comotown.

Lucy literally had this look on her face the entire go-round.  Our little daredevil for sure.

Then she was totally ticked when she found out that her bother could go on the teacups but that she was too short.

Saturday was our first full day of the weekend and it was a scorcher.  Ninety plus degrees with 100% humidity.  Or something like that.  All I know is that we all permanently looked like we had just stepped out of the shower.

So back to the pool we went, of course.  Only this time we had dad and we all know how much fun dads are in the pool.

When we left Brian said, "Guess who had more fun at the pool today, me or the kids?  GUESS!"

After that both kids took hardcore naps.  William fought it, of course, because he just doesn't feel like he's doing three-year-olds justice if he doesn't.  But he gave in after a mere 30 seconds.

That evening we had ourselves a little grilling party.

There was corn on the cob.  From California.  BIG MISTAKE!  But Lucy didn't seem to mind.  Probably because she doesn't know the difference yet. 

Note to self: Never ever buy corn that is not grown in the Midwest.  Never.

There was also beef hot dogs charred black; the best way to eat them.  And grilled organic zucchini so juicy it dribbled down our chins.

Afterward, to make sure we were properly cleaned up, there was running through sprinklers in skivvies.  Brian and I sat this one out but laughed all the same.

And there were sparklers.  You can't have a 4th without sparklers.

On Sunday morning we "block partied" with our almost neighbors, Mr. & Mrs. Cruz.

There were more sparklers with Uncle Jo-Jo.

When darkness fell we joined the rest of St. Paul on the steps of the Cathedral, patiently restlessly waiting for the fireworks to begin.  Nevermind the overtired little monkey in my arms determined to ruin a good family picture just because it's three and half hours past her bedtime.

And when it was over they looked like this.  So full of fun they couldn't keep their eyes open a second longer.

A good STAYcation indeed.  Not lame at all.