Happy 4th… PAD #1183

Happy 4th... Pad #1183

Today we are at the Cape. Eva and her Grandfather spent a little time on the porch to start off the day.

Eva and her Grandfather

Another 4th in Falmouth. Things are changing all over the place. It is so different now that I am a father. Each year our neighborhood has a little parade. It starts off with a bunch of patriotic songs sung by the neighborhood kids. Then some speeches and more songs and the Pledge of Allegiance. Then a 60 foot flag is unwrapped and carried by a team of volunteers. A truck carries a band and the whole neighborhood joins the parade.

The Parade

Eva is still a bit young for going on the parade so we went home to watch it come by the house, except this year it turned down the street before ours. We missed them coming by and Eva was in her pretty little red white and blue dress. That is okay though she had fun waving to everyone walking and driving by.

4th of July girls

Later in the afternoon Allison and I took Eva to the beach. Eva went in the ocean two more times today and it was so nice. She absolutely loved being at the beach. With the water much more calm today we could do many of the swimming lesson things that she learned.

As I was walking out of the water the second time an other father asked me, “How did you get her to go in?” Well, for one thing she is nearly 9 months old so I didn’t ask her I just carried her and in we went. I don’t plop her directly into the water. I lift her, dip her toes, then dunk her again to the knees and each time lift her high into the air and make fun faces. I make it fun and that is why she enjoys going into the cold ocean with me. I noticed later that this father tried the same thing with his one year old and that kid did end up enjoying a bit of the water today.

For dinner we had a nice meal with just the immediate family. This was a quiet year for the 4th. Usually we have a large party but this year we were lo-key. It was a nice relaxed meal with all the traditional 4th fixings. We had hot dogs and hamburgers as well as salads, chips and beans. It was a nice evening. My sister Tara took this photo of us.

4th of July Family

Tonight we watched the Falmouth Heights Fireworks. This has been a tradition since 1981. Each year the fireworks are set to music and they are incredible. WMVY is the station that has sponsored the music and the fireworks are paid for by many generous donations.

I went up to the attic of the house and set up my tripod to get the best shots that I could. I read a few posts about taking fireworks shots. I got upstairs and played with the settings over and over. I was happy to have the tripod and the remote for the camera, I think what I ended up with turned out pretty sweet over all. Let me know what you think. And if you know of any shooting fireworks posts let me know and drop me the link in the comments. I’d love to learn more before the next fireworks display.

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Book Review: My Very First Book of Colors

Read to Me, Dad: My Very First Book of Colors

Eric Carle is probably most well known for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But he has many other books as well and one of them is My Very First Book of Colors. Yesterday my Mom gave this book to Eva and I read it to her. Well, there isn’t much of a story it is a book that shows a color and then lets you match up the color with an illustration of something that is predominantly that color. The pages are split in the middle so that you can flip the color on the top and then flip the 2nd half of the page on the bottom to find the item of that same color.

This is an excellent book to use to start teaching your small child about colors because the illustrations are top rate and the book is interactive with the split pages. It is also a board book so Eva can munch on it a bit too and it will hold up for future kids.

This book is also part of a set called My Very First Library which includes the books My Very First Book of Colors, My Very First Book of Shapes, My Very First Book of Numbers, and My Very First Book of Words.

Read to Me Dad Ratings

  • Story – No story, just names of colors.
  • Re-Read-ability – Excellent, repetition is a wonderful thing for growing minds and we can read this to Eva over and over.
  • Illustrations – Excellent -The bright colorful and playful images created by Carle are excellent.
  • Message – No message, just a book of colors.
  • Plot – No plot, just a book of colors.
  • Characters – No Characters, again, a book of colors.
  • Does Eva Like It – Eva was slightly interested in the book but then again I think she wanted to chew on it.
  • Recommended Ages – Baby-PreSchool