Fourth of July

Alan had the fourth of July off which was an unexpected surprise so we were able to pack in some fun. On Tuesday we went to one of his co-workers house in Lee's Summit with a few other families to have a dinner, do some swimming and watch their fireworks that were displayed on the 3rd.  The kiddos had so much fun playing with all the other kids!  I wondered how they would do with the fireworks but they did great!  They were far enough away that they weren't too loud but they could still see them.  Even Isaac who was super tired by then even sat and watched most of them.  Peter did get a little scared by the neighbors who were letting off some pretty big fireworks but once he got over his initial startlement and as long as he was holding my hand he was ok.  I have never seen a neighborhood let off so many huge fireworks...they don't mess around!

On the actual day of the 4th we kept it low key, because we were so tired from the night before and it was way too hot to do anything outside.  I had bought some kiddo friendly fireworks, we turned on the slip and slide and invited some friends over to do some fireworks.

Peter was not sure about the sparklers, we tried to get him to hold one but he refused.  He did like the smoke bombs, the little snap things you throw on the ground and watching our little fireworks. 

 I had bought some little tanks that are supposed to roll forward when you lite them but they were a little disappointing since they went like two inches and then flipped over.  But the kids liked playing with them afterwards.

 Here was Isaac's turn at the sparklers...unfortunately he was not as cautious as Peter because he reached right out and grabbed one...on the lit end of course and gave himself a pretty severe burn.

 This is how he spent the rest of his evening....with his little hand in a cup of cold water.  Thankfully we had them close so his hand went in right away.    Poor little guy-I don't think he will like sparklers for a few years. 

 And here is my organizer...his favorite part of the evening was arranging all the burnt out fireworks according to size and shape!  lol

It is so fun to celebrate holidays with the boys and to see their wonder and excitement and to teach them about why we celebrate them.  God bless all those who have and who continue to sacrifice so much for our freedom!