The Fourth

Today I have this song in mind as I post about how we celebrated Independence Day. Liam and I find ourselves humming or singing these lyrics throughout the day. (Not exactly a poetic masterpiece, but fun nonetheless.)

...You just gotta ignite the light
And let it shine
Just own the night
Like the Fourth of July!

'Cause baby you're a firework
Come on show 'em what you're worth
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
As you shoot across the sky-y-y
Baby you're a firework
Come on let your colors burst
Make 'em go "Oh, oh, oh!"
You're gonna leave 'em fallin' down-oh-oh

...Boom, boom, boom
Even brighter than the moon, moon, moon
It's always been inside of you, you, you
And now it's time to let it through...

DeWitt Clinton Park on the west side was recommended as a great spot for viewing the fireworks. It has a playground and a field with astroturf. We got there extra early to get a good spot, have our picnic and for Liam to get some playground time. When we got the police nearly turned us away because the park was closed and only available for the elderly and disabled. Luckily, we had Welita with us, so they let us in. We dropped our stuff somewhere in the middle of the field and headed to the playground only to find that it had closed at 4pm. Bummer. No one was allowed to walk anywhere around the park except on the field and to and from the bathrooms.

There were only about 25 families or so on this super wide field. It was great to have all that space around us, especially for Liam to run around and burn some energy before the fireworks. We played, exercised, relaxed, and even had ourselves a picnic. Liam got a free putting lesson (see pics below). Before that, Bill ran a few laps around the field in his finger shoes. (He sure attracts a lot of attention with those ugly things). Later, he made a run for some ice cream cones. (So much for all the exercising prior). The sky at dusk was spectacular with its colors changing from orange to red, pink, purple and then to sapphire blue. Everyone was seen taking pictures with the quickly changing sky in the background. The large overhead lights in the field were turned down the moment the fireworks started. We were a bit disappointed with the partial views, especially Bill because he had brought his camera gear with him.

Still I think it was the most relaxing time I have had for a while and Liam sure had a blast. He wore himself out completely, which made it all worth it. After the fireworks, he fell asleep in the stroller upon exiting the park, I'd say about a block away. (Our car was parked several long city blocks away.) He didn't wake up when Bill put him in the car or even when I peeled his clothes off at home, put his pajamas on and put him into bed. I love it when that happens!

Here are some pics of our fun-filled evening on the fourth of July:

The Curl and more playground fun

Liam is crazy about this "curl" at the playground. Ever since he mastered it, he can't get enough of it. It is located at a super big playground in our favorite park about a 10 minute drive from where we live.

Like I said before, if it were up to him we would be going there every single day, basically just to ride this thing.

 

Love that hair!

Ride 'em!

Taking lunch orders...

... so long as it does not include carbonated drinks, and "hot cheese" because it's "not healthy"

This is how we're keeping cool!
(Same day, different playground)

Yes, he does have a right leg.

My brave little boy! (Water was super cold!)

Another day, another playground.
This time closer to Welita's house.

More lunch orders!

So crazy about this kid!

Celebrations

Let's lump up the year's end activities in one post, shall we?

That horrendous flu back in the beginning of November took a lot out of us. I was still in recovery mode when my birthday rolled in. Thankfully, my birthday came and went rather quietly. We celebrated with Junior's Cheesecake which didn't exactly help my cough and congestion, but I was craving all sorts of comfort foods. Finally recovering from that monster flu was enough reason to celebrate.

We managed to rake and clean up the backyard nice and tidy. We put up the blinds in the living room. We also got to work full speed on the dining room a week before Thanksgiving. We wanted it ready once and for all, especially for our holiday dinners. I wish people could have seen us running around like chickens without a head to try to get the dining room ready just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. Bill and I looked like we could have been on a reality TV show with a time clock ticking away. Between bastings, I was vacuuming and helping to remove the painter's tape. Bill was cleaning up, moving furniture, and trying to install the baseboards. Thank goodness Welita was here to help me with Thanksgiving dinner.

We kept it really simple: turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie and my long-overdue birthday cake from my favorite Latino bakery. We had plenty of leftovers since we ended up having dinner alone with my mother, so we bagged the leftovers and set aside the carcass for turkey soup the next day. A tradition in my family since childhood. Yummy!

He started with dessert, but upon seeing his daddy with a turkey leg, he immediately requested the other one and went to work on it.

I had to tickle Liam to keep him from digging his little fingers into my cake again.

Liam helping Welita make turkey noodle soup
(I got the fake smile. Clearly, he didn't want to be disturbed.)

Two weeks later, we picked up our Christmas tree. 

Liam is holding one of two baby trees that we got as a bonus.

Welita also came over for Christmas Eve and stayed over till the next day. We had turkey dinner (frozen from Thanksgiving) and pumpkin pie. Boring, I know, but my husband is crazy about pumpkin pie, little Liam too (but a la mode). I wanted to make my husband's family's traditional Christmas lasagna, but I just didn't have the time nor the energy to embark on such a project. Actually, I didn't have my late mother-in-law's recipe. Next year, I will make sure to have all of the ingredients to make my mother-in-law's best loved dishes for our holiday dinners.

We decorated graham cracker houses with premium candy (instead of the yucky dollar store candy), so we nibbled away at them carefree for days after Christmas. Liam made out like a bandit with some great toys and clothes. We got a great deal on a game cartridge and he loved his truck. He also got some great clothes from a dear friend, and my aunt and cousin sent him a box full from Texas. We stashed away the rest of the toys we bought on sale before the holidays to give it to him for his birthday the next month.

Our Christmas family photo. 

Liam was in the middle of his wardrobe issues and we couldn't wait any longer. We took a break from decorating our tree and took the pic.

Our window decor

Hooray for our new windows!

 

We were given these glitter pine cones and two baby Christmas "trees". I gave a baby tree to our next door neighbor. Once they are bigger we can plant them outside in our backyards, respectively. We were told they would grow as tall as the Christmas tree we brought home.

Daddy helping Liam play with his new video game cartridge 

(that I bought for $6.49, tax free and free shipping, yipee!)

His hips are so slender that he actually fit in it.

Liam was thrilled to see that Santa ate the cookies and drank the milk.
("Santa" was in such a hurry that he accidentally misspelled reindeer.)

Welita's cool Christmas sweatshirt

Modeling a few of his gifts. 

(The other cute clothing was slightly bigger and has been put away until it fits him comfortably.)

We tried really hard to put Liam down to bed on New Year's Eve, but he knew something was up and wanted in on all the action. He fought bedtime tooth and nail and so the little stinker stayed awake to ring in the new year with us. (Picture me rolling my eyes now.)  To his delight, we rang in the new year with his tambourines and maracas. We even heard fireworks around our neighborhood. Super fun!

"Cheers, Welita!" He finished his sparkling apple cider before I was finished pouring the last glass. (And yes, he peed in bed that night. Happy New Year to me. Grrr!)

We watched Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on the tele and Liam danced the night away.

He wasn't tired at all as evidenced in this pic. I just might have to sedate him next year. Kidding!! Or feed him tons of turkey (Tryptophan!!).

Thus ended 2010 and a decade that brought us:
- the good  
(Bill's wonderful conversion, our marriage, our baby boy, Bill's calling as an LDS Bishop and our new house)
- the bad
(September 11th, and the passing away of dear family members: my wonderful mother-in-law Bette, Bill's sweet grandmother Mary, and my favorite uncle Gonzalo)
- and the ugly  
(the beast of a flu that Liam and I caught at year's end).

This decade, so far, is starting out happy and hopeful too, especially as we continue to celebrate our little Liam's many milestones.

Orange

Not sure how to introduce this next post, without yet another lame intro, save to say that orange is my new favorite color. I think it's such a happy color. Maybe it's getting to me because our wood floors have this orange hue to them and I tread on them all day long. Speaking of the color orange.....

We had planned to go apple picking at the end of last summer, but instead went pumpkin picking in the early Fall. Basically, we missed our chance to go apple picking to our favorite place upstate with the nearby drive-in movie theater. Instead, we ended up going to F&W Schmitt's Family Farm in Melville, NY, not too far from where we live. We had a fabulous time in their orange sea of pumpkins.What a sight.

There was a Fall festival going on with blow-up rides, but we weren't interested in that at all. We just wanted to get to the field. Liam loved the hayride to the pumpkin picking area while we loved that it was actually free. We skipped the corn maze, because like I said before, it creeps me out a little. Instead we waded through the pumpkins. The pumpkins, big or small, were 69 cents a pound and we also went vegetable picking (eggplant, tomatoes, green peppers and string beans) for 99 cents a pound. Not too bad considering you get to experience the fun of picking them yourself. A month later there were other kinds of vegetables for picking, like radishes, but who eats those anyway? 

Here are the irresistible pumpkin-filled photos that I took that day. What a pretty orange color! It's true what they say about orange being a happy color. And I need to see a happy color now, during the dead of winter, among the piles and piles of snow, to help cure this horrendous cabin fever.

First, he ran towards the bigger pumpkins. Too heavy.

Then, he spotted the smaller ones
and grabbed hold the first one.

One, of course, isn't good enough. He started thinking about all the pumpkins he wanted to pick up for his friends.

Here he declared that he needed help carrying "all of these".

 He spotted Welita and went to get some love from her.

 He said that he also wanted this patch of grass for our backyard. Me too, kiddo!

 

He always snags whatever hat or cap Daddy is wearing. That day it was this hip black one.

At the real pumpkin patch

 Daddy, the budding photographer, holding a tomato that Liam picked.

He sure loved picking tomatoes right off the vine. I'm glad he got a chance to do this since the tomato plants in our backyard died in September. (It's probably the soil which is why we will try composting to fertilize our soil first before we try to grow anything.)

Daddy, Welita and Liam in the distance picking veggies.

Huge string beans!

We steamed these later that evening for dinner.

The hayride back to the farm's main entrance.
See how happy! I'm convinced it's the power of the color orange..... and the fresh air and sun, too.

Fun ride for Welita!

 My little pumpkin standing by the enormous wheel of the tractor.

 Finally, ending the day with candied apples. It was a first for Liam and me, if you can believe it.

What a happy day with my family! We ended up with one big pumpkin and four little ones.* We really liked this farm and would love to go back again for pumpkin and vegetable picking in the Fall of 2011, but with so many great farms out in Long Island, maybe we will try another..... or maybe we won't. Maybe you can't get any better than this one.

* The little ones were sweeter and tastier. The big one was a real pain to cut into, so I'm doubtful we will ever buy a big one again. I have made pie four times and still have lots of pumpkin in our freezer. I would like to attempt to make a different pumpkin dessert, but these guys are happy with pie, so pie it is.