Independence Day Fun

We celebrated the Fourth by hanging out with friends. First, we ate a yummy dinner with the families of some of Caleb’s closest friends. No pictures there but we met new people and got to see Caleb in his native environment, lol. 

Afterwards, we came home and popped off a bunch of small fireworks with a few of our neighbors. We are really blessed with great families nearby! In fact, while we were busy making noise and light, our next door neighbor came over with a bowl of sweet, cold, sliced watermelon for the kids, which somehow was the cherry on top of our Fourth. 

Happy birthday, America! We are grateful to be a part of you, and to have the freedoms that don’t come free. 

Kansas City

To any teenagers I know, this is proof that you don't stay young forever. Don't deny it. I used to think that, too.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say this was a crew of middle-aged (already?) parents of, all together, 12. But really, that's not what this is a picture of. This is a picture of 5 band geeks (hey, this is a family blog!) from high school (there really were 5 of us, but that picture didn't turn out so well) who used to run around together and get into trouble and think they would never grow old. Okay, I still think I won't ever get old, but pictures like this make that really hard to maintain. But hey, at least we don't have zits anymore (most of the time), right? And still no wrinkles yet.

Before we trekked out to the middle of nowhere ... er, I mean, my parents' house in Kansas, we stopped in Kansas City, and met with my BFF from high school, Krista, and another set of friends, Colby and his wife Jennifer, who went to h.s. with us. And our friend, Jon, and his family were coming up through KC on their way back home. So we all got together for dinner (thanks Colby and Jenn!!) and good times. Had a lot of fun.

All of us had 10 year old children. It was amazing to see those 4 kids together. I so wish we'd gotten a picture. They were so different! One super tiny, one super tall, all in various stages of development and maturity. What an eye-opener.

On another note, did you know that in KC in the days before Independence Day, you're allowed to blow off all sorts of firecrackers? It was nuts, but somehow it was fitting. It felt like the Independence area was keeping up its rough, wild, frontier-city image (or the one I've always had in my head, anyway). Krista says it can be like living in a war zone. I could tell Bob and the kids thought this was totally awesome. I'm pretty sure they want to go back there next year, too. When we drove into town, we kept seeing all these tent sales at the churches. Here in Oklahoma, a tent sale typically means someone is selling books or shoes. I kept wondering how the churches could sell that much religious material right out of their own parking lots. Nah. It was fireworks, amazing, incredible amounts of fireworks.

I never play with fire, honest.

Independence Day 2009

This year, we celebrated the 4th of July in Bern, Kansas, where my aunt and uncle live, and near my parents' new home. If you look at a map, you point your finger north of Topeka, west of St. Joseph, Missouri, and close to the Nebraska border. That's where it is. Normally, we spend the evening with friends from church, partaking of Norman and Moore's fireworks, as well as Toby Keith's get-up, and a bunch of blasting of our pyrotechnics, as it's outside of city limits. Way fun.

Bern's show was pretty awesome. It started with a bunch of activities for the kids, like horseback riding:

There are many other pictures of Rex on this horse. I was hoping to catch him looking less ... um, awkward. But he was busy hanging on for dear life. I haven't giggled like that in a long time. It was highly entertaining, bless his heart.

There was also face-painting for the kids. I tried to get my kids to have "OU" painted on themselves, but as we were in foreign territory (and really close to Husker land), none of them were brave enough, the punks. That's a rainbow on Sariah's arm, by the way.


We had BBQ dinner, root beer floats, pie, and of course, chocolate ice cream (all after Aunt Kathie's fabulous 4th luncheon). Rex really enjoyed his ice cream.
The kids got to run all over the place, and we didn't really have to hunt them down. There were a lot of people there, but nothing like Norman's sardine can of a celebration.
It was cold. 70s and light drizzle (not heavy enough to cancel the show, woot!). It was fabulous!!!!! We had to borrow jackets from my cousin and his family. Hey! It was like 105F when I packed. How was I to know it would be downright cold on the 4th of July?
We listened to my cousin's daughter, Bethany, sing the National Anthem right before the show. She and her friend did awesome!
And then, the show. Mom kept telling me Bern put on a better show than Norman, which I have always thought does a fantastic job for Independence Day. How could I believe that of a town of 200? We live in a town of 100,000+. Surely, Bern couldn't outclass Norman, right?

What a snob I am!

I am forced to admit that Bern outclassed Norman, easily. My kids were asking to go back next year before the fireworks even started. The fireworks show was amazing, and we were close enough to feel the ground shake (but not close enough to feel the cinders, as some people I know aim for). And one of the best parts, the traffic ... well, it didn't take us very long to get home.

We had a ton of fun. Have no idea what my plans are for next year, but we made some good memories this year, and I'm so grateful for that.