4th of July

We had planned, all week long, to view the cities fireworks on the 4th. But, as evening neared, Jason couldn't help but wonder if Emma would like family fireworks better. We checked out the stands and found that we could get a few little fun fireworks for under $20 so we decided to forgo the city show and just have a family evening. It turned out we mostly got the fireworks for Jason's enjoyment. Emma and I cuddled in a sleeping bag in the near by grass. Jason would throw out flares or cracklers. The flares startled me which startled Emma so we mostly just hung out in the blanket. Not to mention, the first crackler we tried blew it's top off and it landed in our laps! That freaked me out as I was certain we would start on fire. We did get Emma to try a sparkler. The first one she tried was already almost out and she was cautious, but she held it and waved it around a little. The second one she tried she waved around but then it burst with more "fireworkness" all of a sudden. She freaked out and started taking off in the other direction screaming while holding it behind her. I kept yelling "drop it, drop it!" But she didn't hear me right away. Finally, I caught her and Jason grabbed the sparkler just as she was dropping it. She cried for her pillow after that and nuzzled back in the blankets with me until the end of the show. Jason did a few more flares which looked cool when more than one were thrown out at a time. They were my favorite. It was very windy out so Jason had a hard time keeping the flame of his candle going. The wind was also a factor in knocking over his grand finale, so we watched our "shoot up in the sky" grand finale, shoot into the drive way. It was pretty neat......

The city fireworks started going off by that time and we could actually see them from our living room so we turned on Lord of the Rings (we were in the middle of a marathon) and watched both shows and just had fun cuddling in the warmth of the house. It was an odd experience, and didn't go exactly according to plan, but it was fun and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. We made a memory.