4th of July

For the 4th of July there is a huge party in the neighborhood we live in now. Everyone goes over to the Lloyd's house for a big BBQ and then we all camp out on their lawn and the Murray's lawn and wait for the fireworks to start. Evidently, a person (i will not say as you never know who could be reading this) gets his hands on a lot of illegal fireworks. All the young kids run around with sparklers, loud twirly things and small popping fireworks until it gets dark. My mother-in-law, bless her heart, was in a constant state of worry for the well being of all the kids. i'm afraid she was too stressed to have a lot of fun. ironically, the first child to get hurt was ours... with a sparkler... oh, so sad - on so many levels.



Once the sun was gone and it was dark enough, the real fun began. they brought out two ladders with a board across them where they could set up all the big fireworks. Then two guys, a blow torch in each hand, started the show. it was awesome!



Brandon and Sara were here with Ella and were good enough sports to come with us so we wouldn't have to miss our first big neighborhood party. thanks guys!



While we would wait for the next round of fireworks, Ashely's husband - Wes - would take it upon himself to entertain the crowd. he changed into all black, strapped all kinds of fireworks to his body and head and then his older scouts would work together to light him up. Once lit, he'd take off on his son's bike and ride up and down the street. it was hysterical, totally crazy, completely unsafe and a perfect example of what not to do with fireworks... but the crowd loved it and he walked away with only minor burns. Wes - you're a nut!



here's a video of it - yes, that is his scout chasing him, with a blow torch, yelling "nobody got his head".





overall - it was such a fun night. Reagan, who refused to go to sleep, was like a wide-eyed zombie by the end of the night and i loved watching Noah playing with friends and running around with all the energy only the young seem to have. there's just something about being outside, on a nice cool evening, with friends. those seem to be the things that memories are made of.