The Fourth of July

Today has started off with a bang! My kids got us up at 5am. And like a fool I had stayed up late last night. I have had my two cups of coffee and they aren't helping. The weather forecast is rain. So this is going to be an interesting day.

I was remembering this morning that my favorite thing about 4th of July besides the family getting together was sparklers. I just loved sparklers, still do.
The kids love them too. Well, this is Zach's first time with sparklers. I cannot wait to see his face when he starts playing with them. I loved to swirl them around, make pictures, designs, you name it. I always hated it when they quit.
It was the closest we got to fireworks at home. My parents were absolutely against them. ("You'll shoot your eye out, burn your hand, blow up your face," you know the lines.) On the other hand my cousins would always have lots and lots of them. We would have to sit way far away to watch them. All the while my dad and mom would be fuming. Of course when we got old enough to stay up we would go to the city fireworks. I loved them.

When I met Bob we began the practice of seeing the fireworks at Ft. Benning. And boy were they loud, used real cannons, demonstrations by the rangers, helicopter flybys. It was all so exciting. Made you feel real patriotic or real scared.

But with Katy and Kara being afraid of loud noises, they never made it there. Our little town in Wadley didn't a fireworks display, thus began our journey into shooting off fireworks at home. Our neighbor owned a fireworks store, and so we got some pretty good fireworks for a good price. The girls didn't like the noise, but they loved the pretty displays. And best of all they loved the sparklers.

Florence does have a fireworks display at 9pm. I don't think these little ones will last that long. So tonight if it doesn't rain we will be shooting off fireworks, and playing sparklers in the back yard. And I will be taking pictures of the kids with their sparklers. But when the fireworks go off, even though I have a safety-minded husband who is careful, I'll hear those old voices saying; "You'll shoot your eye out, burn your hand, and blow up your face." "Hey, can't you old fogies be quiet and just let us have a good time." The funny thing is this morning the kids are putting on their chinese outfits, and talking about when they came from China. Okay fireworks originated in China. Fireworks/Chinese Outfits/ 4th of July. That'll work. I have got to get some pictures of this.