4th of July

We had a very relaxing 4th of July this year. We grilled burgers at home and then met several families in Southwood (huge, well-planned community 20 minutes from us) for fireworks. We met at the playground by the pool there and let the kids play until the sun went down. Alisa had fun and didn't need our help on the slides or anything so we were able to just sit and talk with our friends.

When it was just about dark, we took our lawn chairs and walked a short distance to the field where they were going to shoot off the fireworks. I was surprised at how NOT crowded it was there. We had plenty of wiggle room between our group and the strangers around us. And we had the best view ever of the fireworks. There was nothing blocking our view and we could actually see the fireworks shooting up out of the ground. Very cool! There was a large roped-off area in the field where the fireworks and loudspeakers playing music for the show were located.

When the show was over, we said goodbye to our friends and walked to our car in the little parking lot. We had no trouble getting out right away and since the show ended a bit before the city's show in Tom Brown Park (which we passed on the way home), we zipped on home without stopping. It was SO NICE not having any traffic congestion to deal with like we usually do after watching fireworks. It was perfect. We will definitely watch them in Southwood again next year!

Alisa in her 4th of July outfit:

On the playground waiting for the sun to set:

Picking up fallen flower petals by the playground (since we wouldn't let her pick any actual flowers--she loves the petals though):

Marching to music while eating Teddy Grahams before the fireworks started:

Ander joins the march with his snack (they followed each other around for quite awhile, circling the chairs of the people near us):

Daddy activates and makes a glow necklace and bracelets for Alisa:

Alisa sat on Daddy to watch the fireworks:

The beginning of the show that ended up being pleasantly long (that's the moon glowing just above the fireworks):

You can hear Alisa exclaim "More fireworks! More fireworks!" in this video taken at the beginning of the show: