4th of July

We have had a busy and wonderful holiday weekend with the Works Boys.  It started Thursday evening after work; we took the boys down to Papa Joe & Grandma Works's house where we played with Seth and Sophie, jumped on the trampoline, ate pizza, and visited.

Beth and Steve showed up later, and we followed them to take a tour of their new Barn/Home.  It's the classiest barn we've seen.

We went to B&W's parking lot at dusk to watch Humboldt's fireworks display.  Attending: Blair and his wife with Beth & Steve, Sophie & Seth; James & Andrea with Britnee and Ashlynn; and G-ma & G-pa Works.

Eli loved the fireworks and being with his cousins.  He got to do his first sparkler, but still was a bit too cavalier with it.  Avery was in awe of the first couple explosions, and then became a bit worried about it, and so was stuck to Mommy the rest of the show.  He did get to chow down on a big wedge of watermelon, though.  A late night for the boys.

Friday we just stayed home all day and gardened while the boys played in the sandbox and wading pool.  We had the bright idea to take them to the Humboldt Pool pre-nap, but got down there to find it closed for the holiday.  Imagine that.   After nap we headed down to Great-Grandmom Works's for barbecued ribs.  The boys loved wandering around the farm, looking at the combine, pond, etc.  Tony let Eli drive the van on his lap from G-ma/G-pa's to Grandmom's.

We had packed Friday afternoon for a brief KC visit, and so after a good meal and visit with Grandmom, got the boys in their pjs and headed for KC.  Eli doesn't miss a thing, and based on some minor details asks, "Are we going to a hotel?"  It took him a bit longer to fall asleep because of his insight.  We reached the Extended Stay America at around midnight.

Earlier our plan was to just go to the petting zoo and visit the Hesseltine cousins on Saturday.  When we contacted Jen & Rick, they said they were going to Worlds of Fun late on Saturday, so we decided to join them.  We booked Saturday night at the Sheraton, let the boys play with Brooke & Megan in the morning, took a nap at the hotel, and headed to WoF late afternoon.  We didn't leave until 10 pm, and the boys had a blast.  Avery was gung-ho about riding all the rides, and despite being denied the first ride (Viking Voyager) for being a 1/2 inch too short, got to ride everything else: Octopus, Fjord Fairlane, Train, Carousel, and everything at Camp Snoopy.   Eli got to do the bumper cars all by himself, and got to ride Viking Voyager with Daddy.  It was a perfect 5 hours at Worlds of Fun with two young toddlers.