We could not decide if it was best to get there early, see the parade and leave early afternoon, OR arrive mid-afternoon and stay for the fireworks. We knew our energy would not last all day;) So, we opted to have Zech make us a pancake breakfast...
...take the 1:00 ferry and try to stay for the fireworks and hear the band play on the waterfront. I think we made a good decision.
We all had a great day!! The boys were all excited about the ferry ride and bombarded us with questions as we waited for the ferry to arrive. We missed the 1:00 and had to wait 45 minutes. Surprised? So, we answered questions for 45 minutes and tried to contain our excitement. They asked some good questions. Alexander asked, "if we drive onto the boat and line up behind each other are we going to have to back off the boat when we get there?" "Zech wanted to know how the boat keeps from sinking with all of the cars on it." Here are some shots of "the wait" for the ferry to arrive. Allot of excitement caged up in our van:)
Once we finally arrived, we immediately walked to the Provision Company, a great little dive that we were so excited about eating at yesterday, and it was CLOSED:( We were disappointed, but we walked to the vendors set up and decided on corn dogs and fries for the boys. As you can see, they were not disappointed at all:
We stopped along the way to take a picture in front of Lois Jane's Riverview Inn, where we had our reception. The boys were not interested in standing still long enough for a memorable photo, so this is it - oh well, Papa was cooperative:)
The US Army 82nd Airborne display was definitely one of the highlights of the day for the boys. It gave me shivers to see them holding these weapons, but they loved it, as you can see in the pictures.
From soldiers to tigers. We headed to the arts and crafts setup to find the face painting and WOW were there some elaborate face paintings. I just knew Alexander would go for the snake, but by the time it was our turn, he changed his mind to the tiger. Josiah had decided on Spiderman, but then he changed his mind to a tiger just like his big brother:) Zech exclaimed that (and this is a direct quote), "I don't want any part of my body painted!". So, he didn't:) I tried to get him to have his hair painted, but he would have no part of it. Actually, I'm quite proud that he didn't give in to the peer pressure and I pray that he'll take the same stand against alcohol, drugs, etc.... and NOT give in to peer pressure!! I just didn't want him to be disappointed later that he didn't get his face painted because they were shutting down at 5:00.
So, while A and J were still waiting in line to have Gracie the clown paint their faces, Zech and I went to find yet another portapotty:) On the way, we saw JoJo pulling a carriage and we decided that should be our next stop as soon as A and J had turned into tigers:) We went back to find Papa, A and J and this is who we found...




We headed off to find JoJo for a relaxing ride. Here is the picture I took while Zech and I were walking...
We headed off to find JoJo for a relaxing ride. Here is the picture I took while Zech and I were walking...
Since we could not find JoJo to take us for a ride, we decided to head back to the car, drive around in the AC, grab some water and a snack and see if we could find a closer parking space to the waterfront and unload our chairs and blankie for the fireworks (although the jury was still out as to whether or not we were staying). After all, we still had a couple of hours to go:) And we were all getting quite tired!
We asked the boys if they could remember where we had parked the van and about the time I had asked the question, we discovered a box with FREE maps of Southport. Zech LOVES a map, and sure enough, the map saved the day and Zech was able to direct us back to the van;)
See, I told you how to find the van!
We rode around in the AC for awhile trying to decide if we could brave a few more hours and see the fireworks. The boys were being really good, but we were all so tired. We found a parking spot close to the waterfront and their was a park. So we let the boys play in the park for awhile and we rested in the cool shade. They had a blast!
While the boys were playing, I snuck away to get the promised cotton candy which poor Alexander had been wanting all day. The line was unbelievable as the cotton candy stand was the same as the ever popular funnel cakes. Boy do I love my boys!!!! Although we knew the cotton candy would kick them into an even higher gear than they were in, we did promise, AND it was a special day:) Pure sugar injected into their blood stream at 8:00 at night. Whew!
FINALLY, it was time for the fireworks and after about the first 10 that went up, Zech announced that he was ready to go home! We were able to hold him off until just before the grand finale, and we decided we would head out early to try and miss the crowd. Good thing we did, as it took us an hour and a half to get home. We had to drive back because the ferry stops running at 9:00. The boys were very concerned about how we were going to get across the water since we couldn't take the ferry and made us promise to wake them up when we crossed the Cape Fear bridge. Yeah right!
Zech was so tired and asked me to sit in back with him so I did. He announced to me as we cuddled together that he was going to marry me one day. What a perfect ending to a great day!! He did say that I could stay married to Papa:) He then announced that he might marry two girls. Zech and Josiah were asleep within minutes of getting into the van, but Alexander still had a sugar high from the cotton candy, so it took him longer.
Zech enjoying his cotton candy!
Some tired boys, but they kept going, and going, and going....
A sure sign of a good day... Chocolate stains, ice cream stains, puppy dog smells, ketchup stains, DIRT, lemonade stain, cotton candy stains, DIRT, paint stains, candy stains, Coke stains, did I mention DIRT???
Happy Fourth!!!
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