4th of July

A sparkler drawn heart for me :)

When I was a teenager the 4th of July was my favorite holiday, hands down. Every year my mom and stepdad would travel to Pennsylvania to buy the crazy big dangerous fireworks that were illegal in Virginia. Our house was in a big field and it was a perfect place to put on a show. We'd invite everyone...relatives would travel from far off places, we could invite any friends we wanted, strangers would even park across the street to see what we would do next. This was an all-day event that would begin with my stepdad blasting Sousa marches through the house to wake us up (annoying but endearing). We'd go outside to clean up the deck and the area around the pool. My mom would get started on the food and before long the house would be packed with people. Kids in the pool, burgers on the grill, and Jimmy Buffett and Bob Marley echoing around outside. The weather was always magically sunny and everyone always seemed so happy. It was one of those traditions that I thought would never end.

But it did.

My mom and stepdad split up, my siblings and I have all started families of our own and I've moved away. And so my favorite holiday fell by the wayside. Sure there are still great family get togethers with all the cousins running around together and everyone laughing and talking but I still get wistful when I think about those July 4th parties.

Maybe it's time Independence Day is my favorite again? After all, I love talking to the kids about our country and its history. I love fireworks and food on the grill and spending the day outside. This weekend was a good start to me falling in love with this holiday all over again. The city of Athens had their fireworks show on Friday night. We found a great spot to watch near the river and the fireworks were way better than I anticipated. The kids oohed and ahhed over every single explosion. We marveled over the ones that looked like Saturn and the ones that were perfect squares. The weather was cool and the humidity was nonexistent. It was perfect. The 10 minute trip home only took 30 with all the traffic and road work...amazing.

I thought it was strange that the show was a day early but it was our plan to do our own fireworks on the 4th. Steaks on the grill, ice cold watermelon, ice cream. It was going to be a good day. We didn't make it to the parade but we headed to town for the afternoon. We Wii'd a lot, we played hand after hand of Monopoly Deal (a great family card game if you haven't tried it yet...monopoly in 15 minutes or less), all in all it was great. And then it started raining. So, we still managed to grill our steaks and potatoes but fireworks were out. Good thing the city show was a day early after all!

Today we slept in, Livvie had a playdate with her friend who recently inherited 6 American Girl dolls. Jeremy, Noah and I played games while she was gone doing girly stuff :) Tonight more fantastic food on the grill including sweet, crisp corn on the cob, and leftover unbirthday cake for dessert. And, finally!, it was time for our little fireworks. We got to buy flying stuff this year because we're in Ohio but we still kept it low key because our neighbors are so close. As it is...um...they have 4 parachute men on their roof. Oops!! It was a good time and a great way to wrap up our weekend. Tomorrow we go back to reality...Jeremy at work, swim lessons for the kids in the mornings and the rush of errands and playdates and getting ready for Liv's party next weekend. But this weekend? It was pretty darn good :)