4th of July

today was idyllic. everything was beautiful for almost the whole day. everybody was up together. ben and i made a really really cool firecracker cake in the morning. everybody pitched in and we cleaned up the house. then we went over to scott's aunts house for a bbq and swimming. it was a little overcast, which made for a more pleasant fourth, but we weren't dying to get in the pool. but of course all the little cousins wanted to get in, so ben did too. so we all got in the pool. ben was a rockstar!! he had a life jacket and a noodle and he got brave enough to swim around all by himself! it was so awesome. cole of course didn't even flinch. he loves the water. he floated around in a baby float playing with a plastic grasshopper. we swam and swam until we were cold and tired. i got cole out and was getting him dressed when scott and ben got out of the pool. of course ben started having a major tantrum because he thought he was freezing to death. i didn't even look up when he started screaming because it is just so ben, but what made me look was that everybody at the party, all 40+ of them, had gone silent when ben started screaming. they all wore looks of deep worry on their faces. clearly these people had not seen benjamin or any other child like him before. i laughed because it is just every day life with ben, but i think we may have scarred some relatives! after the party we all came home and wiped out! everybody took a nap! hooray! best treat ever! after everybody woke up we drove into salt lake and went to the SL Bees game. the game itself seemed to drag on forever, until the 8th inning when the other team caught up. but we were all so done and ready for fireworks, the reason we were cheering for a strike was so the game would be over, not so the Bees would win! ben has been talking about the fireworks for days, and he was so excited when they started, but about five minutes in he got scared and started screaming. scott calmed him down and covered his ears and then he did better. cole on the other hand thought the fireworks were hilarious! seriously! he just kept giggling and talking. so funny. what a day.