Libations of Freedom

Last week, many, if not all of us, enjoyed a day off and some fire works. There might have been a cook out involved with grilled meat, and most likely some sort of alcoholic beverage. It's an American pastime to celebrate the Fourth of July with friends, family and food.

At our house, we had a sleepover for Carrick the night before. Somehow, I managed three children for the better part of the day, and went to bed exhausted, but happy that Carrick finally got to have a sleepover with his best friend, Ethan. He's literally been talking about it all summer. As if hanging out all day and on into the night with his best friend wasn't enough, we took the boys swimming and met up with Ethan's parents and grandparents the next day.

It was sometime after noon when we roused ourselves into actually leaving the house. We stopped at Circle K on the way to the pool. I had $20.00 Fun Dollars that I hadn't spent (shockingly) and I handed it to Corey. "What do you want?" he asked, and I told him to "Surprise me." He came out with two Fiji waters, and a big can each of Blue Moon, Michelob Ultra, and Modelo. Corey said it came to $13 and change, so he used $10.00 of mine and he picked up the rest.

I was so thirsty, I downed the first Fiji water on the way out of town. (The pool was at a resort in the Village of Oak Creek. Our friends bought time share there, so they are "members". Lucky for us.) Then at the pool, I enjoyed some restful moments sipping on the Blue Moon, poolside. Lily had fallen asleep on the way to the pool, so I had her parked next to me under the umbrella. Carrick had his floaty wings on. Between me and Corey, we could keep an eye on him anywhere he went in the pool. The shocker came when he took his floaties off and jumped into the 5 ft area with Ethan! He was right next to Corey, so I wasn't too scared, but it did make me get off my chaise lounge to make sure he was OK. I just about fell over when he managed to swim to the side of the pool all by himself!

He's been going to swim lessons all summer long, and I have seen him swim. But, it's always in water where he can touch and he's always with an instructor. So to see him going at it solo thoroughly impressed me. I lifted my can of Blue Moon to my awesome little guy and took up my relaxing position on the chaise.

After a wonderful (and late) lunch, grilled by the pool, and what seemed like a timeless afternoon, we finally packed up the car and said goodbye to our friends. Even though Carrick and Ethan had spent the last 24 hours together, they were still asking, "Can Carrick come over an play?"

As we came back to town, Corey declared he wanted "something fun" to drink for later. We still had fireworks ahead of us, and no plans for the time until we had to leave. I stopped at Whole Foods (formerly New Frontiers) and sprung for drinks for the family. I bought myself three tall coconut waters, a Perrier for Corey and an organic Cherry Vanilla soda for Carrick. I spent the remaining $10.00 from the $20.00 I had given Corey earlier for the Circle K purchase.

We ended up going to Cottonwood and parking in a church parking lot to watch the fireworks that night. (Parking at the actual venue can mean sitting in traffic for an hour when it's all over.) We all stayed in the car and kept the windows rolled up. Carrick isn't keen on the loud bangs and booms, and I didn't know how Lily would react to the noise. I parked the car sideways so that Carrick could look out his window. I crawled in the back and sat next to him in his car seat. Lily sat in the driver's seat on Corey's lap. It was a magical, family evening and the perfect end to a memorable Independence Day, or so I thought...



I had $2.00 left of my Fun Dollars. On way back home, the children fell asleep in the car. We rolled into Sedona at 9:50 p.m. As we approached Zainey's Corey said, "Pull in here, see if they're open still."  We parked right in front, hopped out and dashed inside. (Yes, the kids were asleep in the car with the doors locked.) He bought us both frozen yogurt, and I gave him my last $2.00. It was so worth it to just eat a treat with my hunny in the front seat. No kids dripping, or high on sugar. Just me and my love ending the day with a Bang.

Drinks at Circle K- $10.00
Drinks at Whole Foods- $10.00
Frozen Yogurt at Zainey's- $2.00

Balance this pay cycle- $0.00

Happy Spending!