The Fourth of July 2008

I have a feeling my daughter was not the only person to miss my blog about the fourth. Her comment today was, "We didn't even make the blog today". I confessed that I was a bit busy and had written the blog posted a day or so earlier when life was a bit slower. I knew that they would all go home eventually and I'd have time to blog about the fourth later. Now is later.

Our day started out with a breakfast at our friends, Jim and Linda. There were eight of us in attendance. As you can see from the pictures below, the decor was very patriotic and beautiful. We ate far too much good food and drank too much coffee. Bud and Bernice recently acquired two new treasures....one, a '65 Ford Mustang and the other a Boston Terrier puppy. You can see them with both of their pieces of pride and joy. The guys played a yard game while the ladies chatted.

While we were at the breakfast, my phone rang and Lauri said she was bordering on changing their early plans and joining us last evening when Kim and the kids were coming. I told her she could do both her earlier plan and come to us for fireworks. Eventually, she called to say both her family and a friend's family and mom would attend our gathering. My philosophy has always been the more the merrier. I told Ken our party was growing and we needed to get home to catch up to the crowd. By the time all was said and done, we were twenty four happy Americans celebrating a nation's birthday. Obviously, we had to cook a bit more than originally planned but that all went fine as well and people contributed to the fare. We had a great time. Our neighbors put on a fireworks show that lasted an hour. We decided we couldn't have gone anywhere that they would have been better. Kind of nice to sit in your front yard or in your picture window or the roof as many decided to do. Yes, we had adults up there with little kids.

We spoke to two of our neighbor men this morning and learned that there are four men across the street that contribute to the fireworks fund and that the total spent on what was burned up last night was $7,000. I shook. I guess I couldn't justify that kind of expenditure but then I feel rather guilty that I enjoyed it so much. The guys assured me we could still enjoy them. Our family decided that we will contribute something next year but not that kind of money. We would have had to spend a bunch on gas to go anywhere with our crew so we would be happy to pitch in a bit. Both neighbors told us that next year we MUST come into their back yard to watch them (with all our company).

Saturday was still family day. The kids all enjoyed playing with each other. In the afternoon some of us played Quiddler for awhile. By the time four o'clock came, everyone needed a break from one another and we parted ways, thankful for the time spent but weary from socializing so hard. Keeping eight kids happy and fed is a challenge and I think we met it. The kids are never ready to part but the moms are pooped. So is the grandma. Time to clean up and sit in a chair to read for awhile.