Once again, this Independence day, we enjoyed our recent tradition of going over to the girls’ Uncle Jason & Aunt Stephanie’s house for swimming & a barbecue with that side of the family. It was a nice time & the weather was surprisingly pleasant. It rained the night before, on into the morning hours, so we were kind of reluctant about getting into the pool (for fear that the water might be too cold), but when we were finished eating, the adults caught up for a bit, while the kids played together, indoors. Sometime during all the festivities, the sun began shining again & when we got in the pool, the outside temperature was in the mid-80s or so & the water was just fine!

After swimming, we all got changed to go out to a large park/soccer field near where our local fireworks show takes place each year. This has also been part of the tradition/celebration, the past few years. We all got our folding lawn chairs set up & the adults helped the kids set off our own fireworks in the field. I think my girls are just like me — we tend to go more for the sparklers and smoke bombs than anything else! 😉

It was a blast, as usual… then, it was time for the “big show” to begin. We all settled in to watch, but we had also heard weather forecasts of impending thunderstorms on the way… About 10 minutes after it had begun, it seemed the show came to an end. Confused & worried about the possibility of getting drenched (figuring they called the rest of the show off due to rain), even though not a sprinkle had been felt, we all decided it’d be best to just pack up & call it a night. Little did we know there had unfortunately been something wrong with the local fireworks display — either a dud, or misfire, or something caused the show to come to an abrupt halt, we would find out later via the news & other friends & family. But, all was not lost — we had an enjoyable time, with family & we got to celebrate the holiday in our usual way. When we got home, it was about 10:30 p.m. rather than 12:30 a.m. & to be honest, with little ones, it’s probably better to get home earlier, anyway… Hope everyone had a safe & happy 4th! Attached are a few highlights of ours! 🙂