Which was too many. (Especially when our Layer family vacation was the following week–I was in survival mode from July 2-22!)
We always look forward to July 3 around here, when our little village celebrates Independence Day. East Aurora brings the big guns–a foam party and other activities for kids–and this year did not disappoint. Thankfully, the rain held off and shortly after this picture was taken, we had blue skies the rest of the day!
Of course, I barely took any photos, which is typical but no less disappointing, especially when it comes time to blog. We had lots of kids, tons of fun, and are already looking forward to next year. Andrew pulled out all the stops in the decor department, so I’m even more disappointed that I didn’t get a photo of the patio. There was red, white and blue bunting and streamers everywhere, and it looked amazing.
Between July 3 and her birthday, Maelle continued swim lessons and began PeeWee baseball after two weeks of soccer.
Nana and Grandpa brought baby Jack for Maelle’s birthday! His mama, Aunt Hannah, was expecting a baby in the next week or so, so they brought him along just in case. (Spoiler alert: she wouldn’t have the baby for another two weeks!)
While Nana and Grandpa were here, we went to Sunset at the Stables with friends. SO MUCH FUN! It’s live music and food trucks every Friday in July, and we’ll definitely be back next year.
The next morning, we had a four-year-old! I made unicorn pancakes (which did not turn out very well…face-palm emoji for sure) and then we started prepping for the party.
Yet again, the forecast kept calling for rain right when the party was about to start, so we delayed decorating until the last minute…never a good plan. Per my usual, I was racing around like a chicken with my head cut-off, didn’t get everything done that I wanted to, and generally turned into a mom-zilla. I’m not proud of it, and I’ve already written myself EXTENSIVE notes on how to adjust the party for next year to make it more manageable, especially since it will ALWAYS be approximately one week after our July 3 party, and only a week or two before we leave on vacation with the Layers.
HOWEVER, despite all the stress, we had an amazing party! We always do. I think my favorite part was looking around the backyard and seeing all the kiddos having fun with the water table, sand box (which we moved to the back corner), and yard games. One of the most obvious solutions to the ‘high stress party situation’ is to simply cut the guest list drastically. But, we love our friends!
Instead of a cake, we did DIY ice cream sundaes. For more than twenty kids. Under the age of six (mostly). NEVER AGAIN. It’s a great idea…for a small group of 8-year-old girls. Not a horde of young kids. So, lesson learned–we’ll table that theme for a few more years. But, again, everyone loved it and I was probably the only one losing my mind. (It also didn’t help that just as I began to set up the ice cream table, it thundered and everyone had to run into the garage. As you can imagine, the kids swarmed the table immediately.)
After the party, Andrew managed gift-opening and I put my feet up. Some good friends stayed for dinner and we had a lovely evening after a very busy day.
Something about turning 40 this year has me re-thinking how we do things, and how I think about things. I feel like I’ve spent the last few years slowly letting go of rigidity and expectations (which I realize in some ways just brings me down to ‘normal’ levels), and I’m really trying to embrace the season I’m in with a goal of peace in our home, and doing what’s best for our little family. For some families, that’s saying ‘no’ to lots of things in order to spend more time together. While being a ‘no’ family isn’t who we are, I do see ways I can the stress that comes with some of our activities, especially after this particular stretch of weeks.
Hoping, praying and crossing our fingers for a less-chaotic-yet-more-fun July next year!
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