Fair rides and fireworks

The boys got to ride the Merry-go-round at the fair on Saturday. We went with our friends, Avi and Erina. Between the five kids we had in tow, the pace was very, very slow. But we all had a great time.
Daniel really, really wanted to go on the big kid swing ride...you know the tiny swings on that huge round about with the really small, really long chains that looks much scarier the heavier you are. He wasn't tall enough for that this year, but we did ride the ferris wheel. He loved it. I was surprised and delighted at how brave he is on rides. We'll be riding roller coasters soon.

Avi and Erina just had their second child. It was fun not being the mom dealing with blow-outs and spit-up. But the other night, as I rocked Gavin, I realized that soon we will be done with the crib. My boys are growing up and we're pretty much done with the baby stage.

Five years ago, we were preparing for our first little baby, getting cribs and changing tables, rocking chairs and high chairs. Five crazy years later, we're almost done with all of that and moving on to other things. We still have three car seats. Still three booties to wipe every day. But now two kids are potty trained. Everyone walks on their own two feet. I've loved having babies. I'm sad that stage is over. Good bye babies. That went fast.

Gavin's foot needed help getting in the water, so he picked it up and put it in.

Still a little scared of the loud noise from fireworks, Daniel and Vincent spent much of the 4th of July celebration in the van with Grandpa. But after some encouragement, Daniel got brave and came outside. Once he was out, he got all proud of himself and exclaimed: "I'm outside!" After that he even got brave enough to hold the sparkler.

At the very end of the night, Vincent mustered up enough courage to hold the sparkler too. Of course, he loved it, but by then we had used almost all of them up. I was fun seeing the boys enjoy the fourth this year instead of just hiding from the noise.

In other news: Vincent is now officially a big boy! Last Sunday out of the blue, he said: "I need to go wee wee", we weren't even at home. Since that moment, he's volunteered when he needs to go. With only a few accidents, he's been doing a great job, even at night he wears big boy undies. So I guess our method was several failed attempts at training over the course of a year, talking about it, then Vincent just deciding to be ready. Potty training in a year and a day.