Meet the Muir Family: July 4th weekend!!

We had a fun, family-filled, action packed holiday weekend with a side of rain. My Dad, brother and both nephews visited for the long 4 day weekend. So lets, get right into what we did!

We visited the Stamford Nature Center. Joey sure did light up looking at all the animals.

It's hard for me to get a sweet photo of these two goof balls.

Decked out in our red-white-blue outfits.

Joey and I looking at the pigs.

Oh- now he spotted the goats!

Llama Llama, where's your momma?!

Almost impossible to get a still shot of these four.

But I did manage to get a semi-okay action shot.

There is always one more thing to stand on or climb on before going back home.

Fourth of July picnic style food for lunch.

It wouldn't be a trip up here if we didn't visit Stew's.

There is Joey!

He loved looking at everything in the store especially the choo-choo train and Mickey Mouse!

Popping some fireworks.

Watching the smoke bombs.

Sparklers. Katie said "This is the best day ever!" Just wait until tomorrow little grasshopper when you see the real deal.

I even fit in my first long training run by waking up at 5:30 on Saturday. I had to sneak down our creaky stairs which almost always wakse up the kids and tiptoe past 4 sleeping boys and out the door but I did it and I'm glad I got it out of the way so I could enjoy the rest of the day.

We visited West Point Academy. Being a military family, my dad in the National Guard and my brother having gone to Virginia Military Institute this was the perfect fit! It's only 45 minutes from us and a nice drive. There was so much to see and lots of history. Unfortunately, times have changed. 5 years ago we all visited the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, CO and we were able to walk all over campus and had access to pretty much everything. In this day and age, the campus was off limits to the public but you still were able to gain limited access by taking a tour. We arrived in the late morning, when the sun was high, the kids were getting hungry and nap time was approaching so we didn't do the tour but had fun walking around the visitor center and museum and the little town. We'll have to come back another time!

Joey and Papa.

Bryan and Joey

The silly kiddos.

The West Point Museum.

Heading to the museum.

Resting their short legs.

Taking a breather from the hot sun.

There were thousands of artifacts in the museum and so much to look at. I'm not sure why I found this intriguing. A gold gun given as a gift to Adolf Hitler.

Trucks, tanks and cars.

And a princess and tank.

And a "fat boy" atomic bomb case.

Decompressing from a busy morning with electronics.

Time to paint!

It was interesting to see the difference between a just turned 2 year old, an almost 3 year old and a 4.5 year old and a 10 year old.

Saturday evening we went to New Canaan for their annual Fourth of July picnic, party and fireworks show. Typically this event is for New Canaan residents only and tickets are required to be purchased in advance. There are supposedly limited tickets for non-residents but we got in with no tickets! The event was postponed from Thursday evening to Saturday evening due to rainy weather and we figured we'd give it a shot and if we were turned around it was fine since it was just down the road. Wow are we glad we went! It was so much fun and seriously what I picture when I think of an All- America 4th of July party. The whole town was there, kids were running around playing, picnics were scattered all over the large lawn, friends were mingling, and everyone was having a good time. There were a handful of bounce houses and obstacle courses set up for the kids, face painting, live music, police officers handing out huge glow sticks to everyone and it was all free. There was lots of food to purchase, people getting lost and running into new friends.

Once it was dark, a little after 9 pm there was a 10 second countdown before a perfectly orchestrated firework blew up the night sky. The kids faces lit up (it was their first real fireworks show) and we were all mesmerized for the next 30 minutes! Yes, a full 30 minute show with hundreds of fireworks exploding right over our heads. This is a definite must for next year if we are here! New Canaan put on quite a production and getting out of the park was a breeze thanks to careful planning. We were home in less than 20 minutes.