"3rd of July" Party

To keep our Sunday focused on our religion

we moved our traditional celebration to

the 3rd of July this year.

Both Larry and I were surprised to

recall that it was our 3rd year in a row.

Time is just flying by!

Although a rain storm showed up 15 mins

into the BBQ we moved everyone into

the cleaned out garage and ate dinner

together while we waited it out.

Eventually we sent the kids into the

rain to run off their energy.

But this sour start ended up being the best

gift of the evening.

It brought cool temperatures, removed the

sweltering humidity and blew a cool breeze.

Even sent away most of those pesty flies.

We couldn't have asked for better

weather in JULY!!

I gladly stood back and relinquished my

duty of sparkler mom.

It's a smoky job with shooting sparks

that can burn a few toes.

The kids couldn't contain themselves.

They were DYING to get the

festivities started.

It was even a blessing to have

really saturated grass and a large

puddle of water in front of the house

to keep the fire hazard down.

At first Ben was a little hesitant to

hold on to this fire spitter.

Emma couldn't get enough!

Eventually Ben got over his fears and

joined Sydney in the sparkler-stance...

"hold as far away from your body,

but smile with joy all at once"!!

On the other hand, we had Keira.

At the wrong age for a large, up close,

fireworks show.

With Daddy preoccupied at lighting up

the entertainment and Mom's lap 

completely insufficient and overly crowded,

she wandered the driveway whining and crying

completely scared.

Then she took refuge in any "mothers"

lap that would cuddle her.

Thankfully I have wonderful friends

and we promptly laid her down

for the night to avoid any more

Party Pooping!

(maybe next year she'll be ready)

We were so pleased with the turn out of

friends and the wonderful side dishes they

brought.  I couldn't get enough of the delicious

homemade salsas, pasta salads, strawberry pie,

7layer dip, etc!!

The kids (& Larry) were swarming over the 

large bucket of Cheez Balls, too!!

They were gone in the first 2 hours.

I was a tinge jealous of Larry being able to

set all of those crazy fireworks off,

but he does such a good job at entertaining

the kids and spreading out the show

so it would last the whole night.

He even had them chasing him up and

down the street begging for more!!

Even though families with babies

trickled out as the night progressed

it was still a blast with plenty of us

left to oooohhhh and aaaahhhh

at the light show.

(note to self: remove all children and

anything flammable when the

"wheel of fire" comes out)

With the night growing darker,

and kids covered in glow sticks

to keep track of them,

Daddy finally let off the larger fireworks.

They are amazing!

I think until ALL of our kids are old enough

to stay up late and really enjoy the

celebration of our country's birth,

this little light show on my driveway is 

worth every convenience!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA!!