Last night was the annual Tosa’s Night Out. We think this is the fourth time we have attended, but it’s the first time that Everett could independently participate in just about everything at the festival including the firehose and the inflatable slides.



He also completed the entire flashlight walk without assistance (on a related subject we note that strollers are becoming a distant memory – if we need to transport him somewhere it is either by car or bike). There were volunteers giving out all sorts of neat stuff along the walk to keep the kids motivated: light sticks, frisbees, water bottles, free ice cream coupons, etc. Fireworks were at 9:30 and we decided to keep him up and watch them from Hart Park rather than the field behind our house. Everett was doing great but at approximately 9:29pm he starting coming unglued due to tiredness. He told us that he wanted to watch from the field behind our house and that the fireworks were ruined. We were just about to pack up and ride home when there was a flash and a loud boom from the first fireworks launch. This shocked him a bit. He instantly forgot about how the fireworks were ruined and instead sat down and watched the show.

Bedtime for him was about 10pm after we washed the remnants an outdoor summer festival off his feet.

After Everett went to bed things were quiet for a while until Cress, Amanda, Matt, Katy and Trinity arrived about 11:30pm. They had driven up to visit us for a few days and go to the Wisconsin State Fair. Once everyone unpacked and got settled we put Trinity in bed with Everett for the night, which in retrospect might have been a strategic error. Soon we heard Everett talking, then giggling, then stomping around, and then a bunch of other noises but few indications that either of them were anywhere near sleep. This went on for some time until Trinity went to sleep downstairs and Everett finally went to sleep about 4am. Naturally he got up at 7am like he always does. We appealed to the Parental God of Logic & Reasonableness to intervene but this didn’t work out in our favor. Rough night.