Happy Independence Day!

We're wrapping up another festive Fourth of July weekend. It's Sunday afternoon, and Paxton is taking his daily afternoon nap. It's only 12:30, but I feel like I've had a full day already. This morning, I had to jump out of bed, gather the dogs and head out the door. I had a job first thing in the morning, and then had to drop off a client's dog (who had been staying with us) at her home. After that, I had to drive my dogs to my mom's house to meet her by 8:30 a.m. She had reserved a time at a private dog park in Dripping Springs. We'd seen it advertised on Craigslist a number of times, but this was our first time trying it out. My mom was concerned that Jelly would be up to her usual tricks of unmitigated aggression, but I had a good feeling. She was curious about what we were doing and seemed to be in an agreeable mood.

We drove down rural country roads until we arrived at our destination. The woman has about ten acres of fenced property, and within the larger fenced area are a few smaller fenced areas. One contained older horses and pony that the woman had rescued, and one held dozens of chickens, ducks, rabbits and guinea pigs--also rescued. There was also a fenced agility course for the dogs. Even at 9 a.m., if was hot. I've always wanted to try Jelly out on an agilitiy course, and I can see that it would be good for her. She jumped the hurdles easily, and until she became too nervous, she climbed over the see-saw and up a ramp. Seymour, my mom's chihuahua, was a brave little fellow, going up a ramp to a raised platform and down the ramp on the other side. He made the trek several times, all for a bite of hot dog. It was very cute.

The dogs ran and frolicked and panted and chased and had an all-around great time. It was only when we finally got into my mom's car over an hour later, and I tried to push my two dogs to the back seat that Jelly snapped. I think she was hot, tired and finally in a place where she felt familiar, and the notion of having Lula thrust at her was too much. She went for the kill, grabbing Lula by the neck. Poor Lula. If we could find the perfect home for Jelly, we'd rehome her, but I don't know who would be able to provide it. Not many people are willing to lovingly take in an inexplicably aggressive dog--even one as smart and beautiful as Jelly. I still am not sure where the answer lies, but I have faith that we'll uncover it.

This was just the icing on the cake of the holiday weekend. In Wimberley this year, the 4th of July actually began on the 3rd. Our local parade was held on the morning of Friday, the 3rd, because the crowd-attracting Market Days is on the first Saturday of the month--thus falling on the 4th of July this year. The parade stretched over approximately a two-mile path. We got a spot toward the end, near several friends, and proceded to sweat bullets under the hot July sun while we waited. Paxton was thrilled to have his daddy at his beck and call, and they played throughout the wait. Finally, the parade reached us and Chris hoisted Paxton onto his shoulders to enjoy the show. After years of fighting sugar-crazed children for candy, this year we had the pleasure of watching people in the parade literally walk up and hand candy to our little guy. Our friend Tatum was in the back of her parent's truck next to us, and I saw several people on the floats use the bed of the truck as a giant basketball rim, making sure Tatum got candy, as well. It was very sweet. That's not to say that I didn't hustle to the street to fight children for Banana Laffy Taffy. I did. I collected a good share of candy, most of which has probably already melted and will never be consumed. It's something about the thrill of the hunt that sends me into competitive hysterics. At least I actually get the candy. My mom points it out and watches while we retrieve it for her. She gets a pretty good percentage of our winnings for just delegating.

After the parade, we walked for what seemed like miles to the annual "Jubilee". Yes, we live in a small town. I had never ventured to the jubilee before, but Paxton's presence in our lives makes us try out all sorts of new family-friendly events. Our friend Jamie walked her bike with us and we all risked dehydration as we treked to Blue Hole, where the Jubilee took place. When we finally arrived, we found we had lost my mom, who was lagging behind with Seymour so he could take his time peeing on trees. We looked for her for a while before we decided that she must have turned back. It took us even longer to realize that the reason she must have turned back was that there was a "No Dogs Allowed" sign outside of the venue. Oops!

Our biggest error in judgment was walking all the way to the Jubilee without having one red cent between us. Note to Self: food kiosks at a Jubilee in Wimberley do NOT take credit cards. Second Note to Self: After years of luring people the aforementioned Jubilee with the promise of free lemonade and hot dogs, even a quaint small town like Wimberley gets dollar signs in it's eyes and charges for EVERYTHING. Even the water that was donated by a local insurance salesman and had his sticker covering the brand label. Yes, even the donated water was a dollar. Seriously. We sat dejectedly on the grass, trying to muster up the strength to walk back to the car. Luckily, we ran into my friend, Sarah, and her family. They were nice enough to loan us some money! Chris went off and returned with 10 bottles of water, which we poured into and onto ourselves.

After that, we were feeling a little more agreeable. A bluegrass band was playing, the grass was lovely, and there was even a little shade. Paxton spun himself dizzy and performed his Music Together songs for whoever would listen. Just before we left, he saw a father and son tossing a football. As far as I know, the kid has never seen a football in person before. But something in his soul came alive when he did. He ran right up to them and joined in the game. At first, he just imitated them throwing, while he watched hungrily. Then they tossed him the ball and he would practice returning it to them. It was so cute. It also send a chill of fear down my spine that we may have our first natural athlete in the family. Oh, God, not a jock.

When we finally made it back to the car, Paxton fell asleep instantly. He never does that. His days of sleeping in the car began to wane months ago. I had to wake him up when we got home to strip him of his wet clothes. He finally went back to sleep, though. I think we all got too much sun. He woke up about an hour later, crying, and I was able to nurse him and get him to sleep for another hour. I could tell he just wasn't feeling 100%. Apparently, neither was I, because I laid down and didn't wake up for nearly three hours. I didn't hear a peep, even though I had Paxton's baby monitor on and Chris had heard him awaken an hour after I laid down and gotten him up to eat lunch and play. I don't do well in the heat. I never have. I feel like I came to Texas by way of Sweden. My skin is pale and it takes a very short time for me to get heatstroke.

That night, after Chris grilled steaks and portabello mushrooms for dinner, we took Paxton to the first annual Wimberley Fireworks show. Although it was advertised to begin at "dark-thirty" (a term I HATE--and hear all too often in this town), we got there at nine and it was just beginning. We were blessed enough to find a perfect parking spot, despite most of the town being in attendance. We jumped out of the car, sat on a quilt in the grass and watched in awe. It was an awesome display. Paxton must have thought he was dreaming. He's never seen fireworks before, and here we were, waking him up from a sound sleep to sit outside with all of these strangers and watch explosions of color in the sky. He loved it. It was such a special experience to share with him.

On Saturday, we went to our friend Harper's first birthday party. I don't know how Paxton feels about Harper the person, but he loves "Harper", the word. He's forever talking about Harper. But I'm pretty sure they almost never actually interact. We're still at the parallel play stage of social development. It was a full house and a great party. Paxton wore himself out and, once again, fell asleep nearly as soon as we got in the car. This time I was able to transfer him to his crib without waking him. Once he was safe and sound and Chris was situated soundly on the couch, I slipped out to visit my mom at Market Days.

It was H.O.T. Burning up, really. I visited for about two hours and enjoyed reliving the old days of our bonding time in the booth. I got home around 2, and Paxton was just waking up from his nap. We ate lunch and then walked to the pool. A guy told us it was 105 degrees when he drove from his house. I felt every bit of that heat. Being anywhere except in the water was unbearable. Even though I was lathered in sunscreen, and drank plenty of fluids, I was drained.

We met my mom for dinner at Hillsedge Grill, but it wasn't the enjoyable experience it normally is. Paxton was tired, so he was acting out. The place was sort of crowded, and the acoustics in that restaurant are strange. Sound carries something awful. I was already overstimulated and bordering on crabby when a woman sat at the keyboard to play annoying melodies last heard on my grandparents' player piano. While we tried to have a conversation, I would find myself screaming over "Roll Out the Barrel...". Paxton was snubbing everything I tried to feed him. I was cramming bites of salad down my throat just to get the once-enjoyable experience of eating out overwith. I thought I might run screaming from the restaurant at any moment.

I had more pet sitting to be done when I got home, and then I returned to put Paxton to bed. I guess the sun had gotten to me, because I felt awful. I went to bed by 8:30 and slept like the dead. Just writing about the weekend has tired me out all over again. I was entertaining the thought of heading to San Marcos to sate my desire for Mexican food with some yummy Mamacita's, but cooking at home might be an easier option. We'll see how we all feel when Paxton wakes up. It should be any minute. This is one looong Fourth of July weekend!