Happy Birthday, America!

Hi! I hope that everybody had a wonderful Independence Day! We decided to turn the festivities into a two-night affair, celebrating both on the 3rd and 4th of July. In our area, it's an all-day, town-wide affair, with a parade in the morning, then a festival at the park with live music and food vendors, followed by a plethora of pyrotechnics, er, a really BIG fireworks show after dark. We love all of this celebration and join right in, only we also like to have our own fireworks display at home. That isn't really possible since the show doesn't allow for getting home until around 10:30. Aha! This year, my smart and charming husband Jim came up with a solution. All of our neighbors were away so we had the entire pipe stem (a shared driveway of sorts) to ourselves! As soon as darkness arrived, which, by the way, was not soon enough for Jamison who had fireworks on the brain all day, we took our arsenal and chairs outside to the middle of the drive and Jim began lighting the fuses. Ohhhhhhh! Ahhhhhh! We were having a great time and the little one's reactions were priceless, as you can see in the photo.

A few minutes later, we were joined by about 10 kids from the neighborhood. It seemed that their show was over, so they came to watch ours. This added to the fun as there were so many silly comments and behaviors. Then, one of their fathers came over with what looked like a metal pipe. He said it was a mortar and lit it. There was a big BOOM followed by a huge WHOOSH as sparks flew into the air, then another, smaller BANG as the sky ignited in a beautiful, dazzling design. It was awesome! He let off a couple more of those and Jim continued with some great fountains in gorgeous colors, then the kids all chased each other around with those little popping things that you throw on the ground. Everybody had a great time.

On the 4th, we headed over to a nearby field where the town's show could be seen. We spread out our blanket and watched a spectacular performance. Upon arriving back home, we let off a few more little fountains before eating some yummy strawberry shortcake and calling it a night. All in all, a fun-filled salute to America!