Happy Hot Rockin' (Redneck) Fourth!

So this posting is over a week late--sorry.

Bruce scored some free tickets to O-town's Fourth of July bash, so we decided to take the family (thank goodness Melissa was around to help keep an eye on the kids). Dan & Dee declined to come with us (can't figure out why!), so we gave our extra tickets to some lucky people in line when we got there.

The highlight of the event for our family was a bunch of inflatable bouncy slides/tunnels/climbing walls for the kids. They played there for almost two hours and got a little giddy with the excitement of it all. We just sat in the shade watching them and listening to the sound of screeching tires and crashing, crumpling metal. Oh yes, the highlight of the event for everyone else who went was the demolition derby that started about the time we arrived.

Have you ever been to a demolition derby? I hadn't before. We couldn't see it from the kiddie area, but I ventured over there for awhile and enjoyed the crashing brutality of it all, and it was kind of funny to see a car flipped by another car and end up producing billows of smoke (a few people thought it might catch fire or explode, but we weren't that lucky). But suddenly, I felt a little too much like a redneck. No one else would have thought so, though. I was way overdressed (not enough skin showing). And I wasn't smoking or with someone who was smoking. So, feeling self-conscious I headed back to the grass and shared a sno-cone with my kids.

Anyway, our indecision gave way to determination that we would indeed stay for the fireworks, since none of us adults had gotten our money's worth yet (remember, the tickets were free!). I had brought earplugs for Sammy, but he still got hysterical fifteen minutes before the fireworks even started, and cried under a blanket (while sweating profusely) until the fireworks show was over. Then the tears turned off and he was fine. Riley and Zeke both loved the whole show, and so did the rest of us. Well, not Melissa. Being a teenager, she would only admit that it was "okay," but that's high praise from her these days! Anyway, we were glad she was around later because we totally forgot where we parked the car, and she pointed us the right direction.

We all had a blast (ha ha) a few nights later when Joel and Leah brought over a pile of gunpowder (okay, fireworks, legal ones at that) and we set them off together with D&D and kids. Sammy kept his ears covered but enjoyed the show, and talked about how "awesome" the fireworks were. We're so glad he had a good experience to make up for the forced fireworks show a few nights before. The boys all especially loved the sparklers, of course, and were very careful with them--I guess they believed my warning that hot sparklers would burn a hole through their skin and hurt for days and days. Didn't even have to exaggerate on that one.

Finally, after all that blah blah blah, I just want to say that I am grateful for this country and the freedoms I enjoy and often take for granted. Despite its imperfections and problems, this is still a great country. And if it needs improving, I guess I'd better go do my part.