Independence Day

The Fourth of July has always been one of my favorite holidays. Since I have had kids, I have been excited to share this day with my family. I think part of the reason I love the holiday is because of the constant celebration, going from parades, to carnivals, to fireworks.

This year we started the celebration on Thursday, the third, by going to the concert in the park in Centerville, followed by fireworks. We met my Mom, Dad, Sister A and family, and BIL Ma and boys. At the park they also had some bouncy houses. My girls would go back and forth between wanting to go and play in them; but when we finally got over to them, they would not go and play in them. We went to Classic Skating a couple of weeks ago, and they liked them there, but I guess with so many other kids around, they did not want to go in. They did want to go down the regular slides at the park, but being so crowded with kids and them being little, they never made it all of the way up to actually go down.

I had been talking to H and R all day to prepare them for the fireworks. I told them that they would go boom and they seemed really excited to go. When the fireworks started, my girls started crying and would not even look at them. We tried to get them to cover their ears and watch, but it did not do much good. My mom had R, and she did okay and watched for awhile, but then got scared and started crying. Bob had H and she hated it the whole time, just clinging to him. I had G, who was asleep before they started, but woke up and just sat and watched the fireworks. At least one of my kids seemed to enjoy it.

Friday, the fourth, we got up and went the Centerville Parade in the morning. H and R seemed to like the parade and got excited every time they got a piece of candy. Their cousins were really nice to them and helped them get the candy, or gave them pieces that they got. The girls got lots of candy. It was fun to see cousins T and Mc and uncle Ma in the parade with T's baseball team.

After the Centerville parade, we headed to Kaysville to go to the Kaysville parade. At the Kaysville parade, they have a normal parade and then a water parade at the end. We went for the first time last year. The parade is one of the most fun that I have been to and the water parade is just one big party/water fight down Main Street. Au and L came with us, and CG, A and K came towards the end. We got even more candy, plus stuffed animals, beaded necklaces and I got a big bottle of hot sauce from Taco Time. Everyone seemed to have fun, until during the water parade until a boy got ran over by his float (trailer) and had to be life flighted the PCMC. (The news reported that he should be okay, and maybe go home that night.)

That night we went to my sister A's house with my parents and brother S and family and kids played in the pool, had a BBQ, and did our own fireworks. H and R liked some of the fireworks, the quiet ones, but did not like most of them, (and the mosquitoes came out) so we ended up going home before they were over.

Maybe some day my kids will enjoy the holiday like I do. Bob seems to enjoy spending the fourth with me more than he used to. He has become used to me having to talk to everyone I know at the Centerville festivities and always having to wait for me. Independence day means more to me now than when I was younger, especially during the years that we are at war. I am so grateful for those that are willing to serve our country and protect our freedoms. I get the chills every time I see men and women in uniform and hope they feel appreciated for the work they are doing for us.