The weather was beautiful all weekend and we had big plans for our holiday at home. On Saturday Karl went golfing so Ally and I went to check out the play area at one of the near by mega-gyms in town. It was really hot even at 10am but Ally had a great time playing with all of the toys made of recycled materials. She especially loves the swings and I am pretty sure she could spend all day on them. The slides were way too hot to even touch but she had fun chasing me and climbing on everything. This place also has a small outdoor water park area so my plan was to use the playground and check our the water stuff in the morning and then come back to swim after nap but we went around back to where it is and noticed there was no water. Sad! We visited a new cafe for lunch and Ally ate great even without a highchair. After nap, Karl was back and we did some shopping to get ready for the rest of the weekend. Sunday we planned to go to a local water park that we had heard good things about. Its part of the sports complex in East Peoria and was much bigger than we expected. They had a large kiddie area with sprayers and a slide, a deeper pool, lazy river, tube slides, and a giant climbing structure that sprayed and dumped water from everywhere. Ally didn't like the lazy river as much as we had hoped but she loved running all over the kiddie area. The water was up to her waist at the deepest part and was full of kids. She loved going down the slide and playing int he fountain style sprayers. Definitely not afraid to get her face wet! She is a little fishy and things that she can crawl on her hands and knees (swim) even when its a little too deep for that. She was not happy when it was time to leave but lunch and nap time were needed.
Monday we planned to have friends over at our house in the afternoon. I had to participate in the 4th of July Parade for work since I organized it. Ally and Karl stayed home but the parade was really fun so hopefully we can all do it next year. Karl and I got things ready for the party while Ally napped and when she woke up, there was a small crowd in the house. Uncle Corey and some other friends from Bloomington came as well as quite a few friends from work. Karl was the grill master and served up steak, chicken and shrimp with a variety of marinades and everyone brought side dishes and drinks to share. The deck was the perfect shady spot to hang out and Ally loved running around and playing with everyone. We played football, ladder golf and wiffle ball and she showed everyone her climbing and sliding techniques. The fireworks are a big deal here but we didn't realize that you had to secure your spot at noon so we didn't make it down to the river. Ally was already up way past her bedtime and we knew there was no way we would be able to get down there and find a spot in time.
This was our first 4th at home in quite a while and our first in Peoria but it turned out to be a really great weekend. Perfect weather and lots of fun with friends!
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