FIREWORKS

Days before the Fourth of July, I drove the kids twenty-five minutes north to a small firework stand where they got a glimpse at firework heaven.  They literally couldn't believe that you could legally buy fireworks!  Okay, it isn't legal in San Jose, but apparently it is legal just a few miles north!  This is the third year we have purchased fireworks and the kids just love it!

We left Healdsburg and arrived home around 7:00 p.m.  It was perfect.  Mark, Brennan, and Gabe ended up coming over which made my kids so incredibly happy!  Last year, the cousins joined us so my kids expectation was that they would be there again.  I swear, my kids couldn't have been happier.  Our neighbors Sam and Sheila also joined us which was so wonderful.

Before the sun goes completely down, we always light off the smoke balls.  These make the kids just laugh!  Having just read Harry Potter books, Michael and Claire kept yelling, Dementors, at the smoke.  I had no clue what that meant but it was cracking up Brennan and the little guys! 

Because the fireworks are 'technically' illegal in our county, we are constantly making sure we aren't getting caught.  The last few fireworks, which we deemed part of our finale, were bright and loud!  I happened to be videoing all of the kids from the back as they were watching the firework finale and it was just amazing.  They are all sitting there, taking it all in, when the firework starts popping SO LOUD!  They all start moving backward in a crab walk and start falling all over each other!  It was awesome! 

We finished the night off with smores and truly had a fantastic Fourth of July.  No one burned themselves (although we had several close calls with six kids all holding burning morning glories at the same time), we were surprised at how awesome our fireworks actually were, we helped our kids make memories that will last forever, and we got to stuff ourselves with patriotic doughnuts and smores.  Can't wait until next year!