4th of July

I feel like we've tried a lot of different ways to celebrate the 4th of July here in VA. We've gone up to DC to watch the fireworks live over the water with patriotic music from a local radio station in the background. We've stayed home to watch the fancy music and fireworks celebrations on the big screen. And we've planted our camping chairs outside to watch other people's (leagal and illeagal) firework displays in our surrounding neighborhoods. But I think we've decided our favorite way to celebrate is getting together with family to eat and do our own fireworks in the back yard. The kids are at ages where it's not fun to pack up for long drives and crowds. They love doing sparklers and watching snakes and smoke bombs. So that's what we've done the last few years. After our BBQ and strawberry shortcakes we played ping pong and bean bag tosses and a new kind of tether game where you throw ropes with rubber balls on either end around a ladder. We were having such a great time and then it got dark and we pulled out the fireworks. Since the Daddys had been in charge of fireworks last year and had gone a little overboard, my sister in law and I decided to take charge this year, but we underestimated what we thought they overestimated last year. I thought there were a lot more leftovers than there really were, and combined with a box that Aaron and his brother had collected in their youth (that ended up being duds or too dangerous to set off)our fireworks show was somewhat disappointing. But the children seemed to be content with the one sparkler they each got and the 6 packs of snakes. There was one semi decent loud, snapping one we saved for a grand finale and Aaron and his brother made it extra special by running through the smoke at the end with their one sparkler whooping and hollering like circus performers. It was hilarious and I think we all agreed the boys should be in charge of the fireworks displays from now on:)