I suppose I accidentally skipped Canada Day, since its tomorrow. But we were busy.

Not at first. Dekker slept until about 1pm, which was incredible because a) its obviously awesome, and b) we were debating going to the fireworks this evening and it seemed somewhat possible if he did everything late today. It boded well. Boded?! Hmmm…

While Dekker played hard all afternoon, I watched for him to get tired. When I saw it start to happen, I just played off of it and kept him going until 4:30. He needed a diaper change so I carried him to his room and he reached and reached for his crib. No fight to go to bed for this boy! So when Brady got home after work around 7:00, we ate and relaxed, and then got Dekker back up at 8:30 so we could feed him and get on the road. It said online that the fireworks would go around 10:40 so we figured we’d get there easily in an hour, with some extra time there for the obviously backed up parking.

We were unprepared. Clearly we haven’t done Canada Day festivities ever, because we completely underestimated the situation. We ended up parking crazy far away after I finally knocked on a door and asked someone if we could partially block their driveway. The man I spoke to was clearly a solid way through whatever he was drinking, and went off immediately on how chaotic this day was every year and how he hated it so much, but then he changed his tune up a little and was very appreciative that I had asked instead of blocking him in completely. So he agreed and we got a spot! And Dekker got to ride in the stroller, because even there, we were sooo far away!

We barely made it on time! There were some testers going off here and there, and it was getting later and later, darker and darker. I haven’t walked that fast for quite some time, and my body is paying for it now. But as the fireworks were beginning, we were approaching the hill everyone tends to watch them from. We were hoping to meet a friend but just came too late and we wouldn’t have been able to locate each other. But you know what? It turned out really nice. We didn’t know our way around, so we sort of ended up behind a bunch of stuff, and the concert stage, so we didn’t have a great view or anything, but we plunked down on the ground beside the stroller and Brady and I each had one of Dekkers hands, and we just watched. I was nervous that he sounds would scare Dekker, and that compounded with the late hour would result in a screaming toddler for the rest of the night. But it didn’t! He sat in awe for most of the show, pointing once or twice. I was sad that it was over so fast, but Brady and I said over and over how happy we were that we had come. It was nice to even just get outside, go for a walk, hold hands with our baby boy, and see some fireworks. Totally worth it 🙂

When we got back to our car, we were loading up the diaper bag, blanket, etc. and trying to figure out how we’d get out of our spot on such a tight street where all the traffic was moving the opposite way the car was parked. As Brady was buckling Dekker in, a man in the traffic caught our attention and said if we hurried, we could turn around int he driveway we were partially in front of and get in front of his own car. In all that chaos, I was not expecting a gesture of kindness from another motorist. We thanked him and immediately hopped into the car and took him up on his offer. It is amazing how fast we got out and back onto Circle Drive! I suppose theres something to be said for parking so far away.

I couldn’t be prouder of Dekker. He was sooo good! And tolerant, wow! He was very pleasant on the drive home, until about the last five minutes when he started screaming. But it was like, little random screams, very much just to make sound and be loud and annoyed, not like he was in pain or anything. I leaned back and just told him how great he was doing and hopefully he could be just as patient for a few more minutes and then we’d be home. And he was! What a wonderful son I have.

My heart is full. My son is sleeping. My husband helped put the fresh sheets on the bed that I didn’t have a chance to finish up before we left, and he’s beside me in bed. My baby girl is quiet and still. I’m so happy to be exactly where I am.

Proud to live where I live.