Independence Day
Is Independence Day on July 1st or July 2nd? WHAT?? I'm not sure if that was the exact joke, but I once heard one along those lines. You know, the brainteasers that catch you not thinking? Forgetting that Independence day and The Fourth of July are indeed the same holiday? As I get older, I think I realize the cost of my independence even more. Not MY price, but the cost of MY independence to so many others. What a great nation we live in. Sometimes I don't think we realize exactly what we have and the reasons that we have it. I always get a little choked up singing our countries patriotic hymns...I hope the words mean something to my children too when they're adults.
That being said, we had a great celebration despite Mathilda being under the weather. We thought that maybe she turned the corner through the night, but she finally woke up late in the morning on the 4th, still having a high fever. Thank goodness for Motrin and Tylenol that allowed her a few breaks from her misery to participate in the fun.
The boys worked at the fireworks stand from open until close...that wasn't the plan, but they were having fun and the help was needed, so it all worked out. By the time they biked home, I was putting the finishing touches on our consolation celebration. See, we had planned to be celebrating with friends, mostly from St. Teresa's, and the kids were really looking forward to seeing their friends, some of whom they really haven't seen since school's been out. Truth be told, Tim and I were looking forward to planting our chairs in a driveway, twisting the top off a cold drink, and catching up with our friends. We weren't about to divide our party though, so we pushed our disappointment aside and made the best of the evening...and it really turned out to be a great night.
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Millie watched most of the night...most of every night from inside or under a blanket. It was necessary for her to "hide" and have her ears covered. By the end of the night, she peeked out long enough to watch one or two fireworks, but other than that, she wanted NOTHING to do with any of it. She kept saying, "I cared (scared) of the boom booms. Inside, now" "Oooh, a boom." When I told her it was pretty, she would repeat from under her blanket, "pretty?" "Yes, do you want to see?" "No, hide."
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Strobe lights...do I need to say more??
When we were done lighting fireworks, there were big booms coming from our back yard and the sky was completely illuminated, so we transferred ourselves to the back yard to be entertained by a professional fireworks show compliments of our neighbor...literally 500 yards or so away. We had perfect seats!!
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That being said, we had a great celebration despite Mathilda being under the weather. We thought that maybe she turned the corner through the night, but she finally woke up late in the morning on the 4th, still having a high fever. Thank goodness for Motrin and Tylenol that allowed her a few breaks from her misery to participate in the fun.
The boys worked at the fireworks stand from open until close...that wasn't the plan, but they were having fun and the help was needed, so it all worked out. By the time they biked home, I was putting the finishing touches on our consolation celebration. See, we had planned to be celebrating with friends, mostly from St. Teresa's, and the kids were really looking forward to seeing their friends, some of whom they really haven't seen since school's been out. Truth be told, Tim and I were looking forward to planting our chairs in a driveway, twisting the top off a cold drink, and catching up with our friends. We weren't about to divide our party though, so we pushed our disappointment aside and made the best of the evening...and it really turned out to be a great night.
Food is what I know how to do to take it from a meal to a celebration.
Mathilda and I had fun making pinwheels and flower bobby pins for the girls' hair since she wasn't feeling well.
Millie watched most of the night...most of every night from inside or under a blanket. It was necessary for her to "hide" and have her ears covered. By the end of the night, she peeked out long enough to watch one or two fireworks, but other than that, she wanted NOTHING to do with any of it. She kept saying, "I cared (scared) of the boom booms. Inside, now" "Oooh, a boom." When I told her it was pretty, she would repeat from under her blanket, "pretty?" "Yes, do you want to see?" "No, hide."
Parachutes happen to be one of my favorites...maybe I just like to watch the kids track them down!
Crazy dog who had no clue that he was chasing explosives. Safety aside, it was hilarious, and then annoying, so Nick had to watch from inside too.
Strobe lights...do I need to say more??
When we were done lighting fireworks, there were big booms coming from our back yard and the sky was completely illuminated, so we transferred ourselves to the back yard to be entertained by a professional fireworks show compliments of our neighbor...literally 500 yards or so away. We had perfect seats!!
See the trees on the ground...that's our yard. I said we had good seats. Anyone want to come sit in our back yard next year??
Happy Independence Day!! God Bless America!
