It was great to have Kate, Mike, Korben, Logan and Brooklyn here and it was fun
to share our USA Independence Day traditions with Vivien.
After the very long parade we headed back to the house where the men could not wait to get going on their fireworks. "Fireworks" is a bit misleading since these were more along the lines of quarter sticks of dynamite. After blowing up one squishy watermelon that exploded all over the driveway and part of the yard, they were hooked. In Mike's words only seconds after the first blast, "honey, go get four more watermelons".
I told them I wouldn't pay for anything to blow up so my very resourceful children decided to go dumpster diving. I hung my head in embarrassment while LeRoy encouraged them, exclaiming their idea to be a brilliant one. Daymia and Vivien went but stood back in disgust, taking pictures.
Among several overripe watermelons, a science gem of a cantaloupe and random shelves and
buckets for blowing up, they found these beauties:
Halloween will be easy this year....after I wash them 4569874 times!!!
Back to our regularly scheduled post . . .
We had a blast! Pun totally intended. I usually hide in the basement during all firework happenings because the lack of supervision that comes at the cost of excitement has me far to worried to watch. . . and I can't keep my mouth shut about it so it's usually better for everyone if I'm not there at all. This year it ran a little differently. The "little" kids had each other (thank goodness for cousins) to hang out with and they got to watch from a (fairly) safe distance. The "big" kids could see the power of the blast so for the first time in 23 years I felt like they were at least considering safety. And, it helped that I wasn't the only one concerned about little kids. Kate, Erika, Vivien and I managed to tactfully maintain boundaries without interfering with the fun.
After a couple of hours of so must blasted fun we had a picnic.
LeRoy grilled chicken and steak to go with our favorite fruits and chips, giving us the perfect 4th of July meal.
While waiting for darkness to come, the adults snoozed or played games and the kids continued
to run all over the yard burning off energy.
We were all easily entertained by the variety of bright, colorful, noisy, spinning, sparkling, whipping fireworks. Logan, Korben, Vivien, Daymia and I all got to do our first Whips. I was nervous and ended up with a few minor burns on my feet but I have to admit it was a bit exciting having sparks flashing all around me.
Once Brooklyn finally gave in to her droopy eyelids she slept through the rest of the noise. The younger boys tried to stay awake until the last firework went off but their day had been non-stop. One by one they slowly drifted off.
Kate, Mike, LeRoy and I went out to lunch the next day and the main topic of discussion was all the possible objects the guys could blow up. Trips to dumpsters and DI came up. Heading out to firing ranges were mentioned (because of the dents left in LeRoy's shed due to shrapnel). And next year is already in the plans for all of us. Our little boys are going to have great stories to tell when they get older!
No comments:
Post a Comment