Happy Fourth of July!

I have always loved the Fourth of July. I always tell my boys it is my favorite when they ask "What is your favorite holiday?" I think it's because I just have lots of really good memories of spending the fourth out on a ski boat in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, getting super tan and eating lots of chips and junk food, and then watching the fireworks on the grass at night. We would either watch them at Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac or at the Osthoff on Elkhart Lake once I was a teenager. My friend's parents usually got a rental there over the holiday so we used to bum off of her since it was such a nice place. I just loved the lazy Summer feeling that was always going on during that holiday. Good food, sun, water skiing, what more can you ask for? It makes me sad that we don't have lots of nice lakes close to Rexburg…. or a ski boat. haha

But, this year I INSISTED that we go to the Idaho Falls fireworks show. Every year about a week before the Fourth of July, everyone from Idaho starts posting this top ten list of Fireworks shows around the country and Idaho Falls is number two on the list. Second only to Philadelphia. While i do somewhat question the credibility of this list, it has still motivated me enough to want to go see them for the first time. I had wanted to go in the past, but Josh always whined and complained so bad and told me about how we would be stuck in traffic on the way home for HOURS that we always decided not to go. But this year, I would not be deterred. I was going to see those friggin' number two fireworks.

Oh, but first! We had the parade in the morning (Josh always has to work that) and it's kind of a bonus because he always gets there early and parks his car, sets up my lawn chairs, and saves me a really good spot. So then I pull in around 9:45 (it starts at 10) and get dirty looks as he scoots his car over and I park mine next to it. It's great. That and the free carousel pass we get are really the only two perks of the job. haha So anyways! The boys were super excited because Devin (Josh's cousin who just opened a Mac store) asked them to help throw candy on his "float" (really just a pick-up with sign on it… like most of the "floats" in the Rexburg parade.) But they had fun none the less! I sat with Avery and Josh walked around, timidly trying to tell people to please back up, since they were about 20 feet into the street. (I told him that when I worked at Disney World that was my job for every parade and he needed to be more forceful!) When the parade ended we came back home and Avery took a nap while the boys had some fun playing in the sprinkler outside. (See photo of Gabe shooting Caleb's butt with the hose)

Then that night, around 7:00, we started our trip to the fireworks. They start at about 10, so you may say we were getting there super early. But actually, there are people that go and CAMP for three days prior, just to stake out a great spot. That's a little crazy, but that's what I have been told about how much madness these fireworks cause. We were so lucky to have our friends Tiff and Scott who let us hang with them in the parking lot of a hotel her sister manages. We got there at about 7:30 and they had the best corner of the lot sectioned off with police tape and all these chairs set up. Hahaha Tiff is someone to have in your corner. She means business. (No, I am not just talking in the third person, she is actually named Tiff.) So we hung out, ate snacks, and waited until the show began.

The boys were playing with the other kids with the sparklers and things. I really thought someone was going to catch on fire. Luckily no one did. Caleb had a melt down over glow sticks though. I really think sometimes that kid is bipolar. During the fireworks, one second he was heard saying "This is the best Fourth of July ever!" and then about ten minutes later, when he lost his glow sticks, he was like, "Raise your hand if you think this is the WORST fourth of July ever." I am hoping his bad attitude is just mostly from a lack of sleep and not a serious mental problem. All three of our kids fell asleep almost instantly on the car ride home. Avery still had all her little glow sticks on so she looked like a little glow-in-the-dark robot baby. It was so cute.

Anyways, was it worth it? Yes! I thought it was really good! And the ride home was not bad at all. We stayed away from HWY 20 and took 15 instead and got home in about 45 minutes. We never really even came to a standstill. It was totally not as bad as Josh had made it out to be. He even admitted this year was great compared to the other two times he went. (Once with his dad, who had serious road rage, and once with some teenage friends)

So here are some pictures of our fourth of July!