4th of July

We had such a nice and busy 4th of July. Living in "Mayberry" has many perks. One is our town has a parade in the morning and fireworks in the evening. The fireworks are shot off from the ball fields and everyone gathers on the country club holes to watch. We headed a few streets away with friends and watched from their pick-up (the kids loved the fireworks and riding in the BACK of the pick-up!)

Our street is a close-knit little community and after the parade we headed to a neighbor's house with the rest of the street for a block party. Miss Sally (a super-friendly, grandmotherly woman) provided the kids with entertainment.....fireworks. And then I realized Luke is very much like his dad in yet another way.....they are pyromaniacs....and so is Miss Sally! In Florida you can only purchase fireworks that don't leave the ground, so we had pop-its, little dynamites, smoke balls, a gem waterfall, some snake thingy and others. Thankfully Patrick supervised well, and Miss Sally is a nurse, so we only dealt with a few blisters. (Now on a side note, many people who live nearby had the "real fireworks"....apparently you just sign a waiver from the vendors on the street saying you are using the fireworks to rid your property of vermin, and it is suddenly legal. I realized many people have vermin the week of July 4th!)

Later in the afternoon we headed a few streets over for another block party with some homeschool friends. This one had a jump castle, a water slide, light sabers, tons of food, and a real snow cone machine operated by a Grandpa who knew NO limits on the amount of snow cones kids should ingest. When the evening rains started, the adults huddled under the live oaks to chat while the Grandpa made plain snow cones for the kids to use in a July snow ball fight.

We celebrated the day away.....and slept alot the next!