That major day.

Hey everyone,
I hope that you all had a great 4th of July with your family and celebrated independence in your own way. Me, I made that decision and took the kids, plus another family that is very dear friends of ours, to the huge goings on down in Pittsburgh, Pa-The 3 Rivers Regatta!
Now I know what you are thinking.. are you kidding me?? You took 7 kids (I have 4 my friends have 3) with just 3 adults to one of the largest gatherings of the year in Pittsburgh? Yep.. we sure did! If you are afraid of taking your kids out in public, when are you ever going to get to see them experience things for the first time?? I ask you this... If you had the chance to see your kids smile, complain, leap with joy and giggle with friends, get soaked..twice.. and watch one of the most amazing fireworks display in all of the eastern seaboard.. WHY WOULDN'T YOU!! For me, crowds are scary things. You never know who is lurking inside of them. BUT at the same time.. there are several hundred police and security people posted all over the area and they are Pittsburgers.. so I tend to worry less with that combo. My friends grew up in New York.. right in the Bronx.. so when I told them we would take a picnic.. and leave it in one place all day.. and no one would bother it.. they were amazed! But I told them.. that is what the 'burgh is all about! You can strike up a conversation with a Pittsburgher any day about just about anything and boy will we talk back. I found more 'burgh people when I lived away from here than I ever expected! We live everywhere over the world.. but the 'burgh is always home.
But I digress. Back to the large, crowded event.. many children and.. yes.. a huge thunderstorm. We got there, ate and chilled a bit, watched the boat race starting and wandered.. amid thousands of others who were doing the same thing. We played in the fountain near PNC Park.. we got face painting and walked across bridges. We showed them just what our city was made of and they LOVED IT! The kids stayed together.. they were good (for the most part.. what kid is perfect in the heat and then rain and with all that activity going around) we did get drenched in a storm (Thank you @WPXI_WX_Scott for all of your help!! LOVE YOU!) but we had extra clothes in the car so we missed the second drenching while we were changing. We ran into friends ( and I kept telling my friend from out of town that Pittsburgh is just one big small town 'cause its true!) and hung with them. We even sat with other friends for fireworks ( and I tried to hog their baby.. but my oldest daughter did more of the hogging than I did ) and we truly had a great day. The traffic wasn't even so bad!
I guess what I am trying to say is.. DON'T BE AFRAID of crowds and people and huge events with kids! Embrace them! The friend with the baby came with just her and hubby and 3 kids under 3!!! That's bravery! But they had a good time and made a point to enjoy themselves! If you are debating on some event to go to this summer.. dont debate.. DO IT! You may be stressed by the end of the day but I promise you.. that stress will melt away when you look back and remember their smiles.. or in a few months when you look back at your pictures.. all you will see is the good that happened. You won't remember that K ran off and you had to go searching for her or that E walked away so many times you finally wrote your cell number in sharpie on his arm because you just knew if you didn't.. he would escape and really get lost. You will remember the fun. and the smiles.. and the great time had by all!
Please let me know if you have or have not had a time like this. Are you still delaying on that big event that is coming up? Are you an old vet like me who drags their kids with them everywhere because you are going to squeeze ever drop of fun you can out of summer? Or have you been scarred by some event in the past and will never try till  your kids are older? Please post a comment. I would love to know what it was like for you!
If you have any ideas for future blogs, let me know! I would be happy to write about my experiences and what I've done in the past and what I plan to do in the future (I'm honestly afraid of my child becoming a teen!) Thanks for reading! Please rate and comment!
xx Katie