A High Rolling 4th of July

 

Having just returned from Sue's Memorial I would have been content grilling some hamburgers in the backyard and doing some sparklers and a few little fountains and calling it a night.   But Matthew's friend Bridger's family had invited us (along with several other families) over for a Salmon BBQ and we had accepted, so off we went. 



We left our 4th of July paraphernalia at home but did our traditional photos.



We ate dinner and visited and then headed out for fireworks.  The kids loved the parachutes.



Up it goes!



and off they go!



I'll be honest.  I'm not a big fireworks person.  Don't get me wrong, I love them at Disneyland, and I'm all about a good sparkler and a few pretty little fountains.  It really wouldn't feel like 4th of July without them.  But other than that,  it just feels like a huge waste of money to me. 

The kids however,

 

love it.



One of the neighbors owns a fireworks stand.  So the firework display was pretty spectacular.  I overheard them say that one of them was an $80 firework (can you imagine?  No, thank you).  And they set them off like that for hours.  Hours!

 

Suffice it to say, our little contribution to the show was laughable at best, but that's how the Zeamer's roll on the 4th.



Matthew's buddy, Bridger.  He and Matthew are a funny pair and have a great time together.



Boys.



Love this picture of Dan.  Love that smile.



Give this boy some fire on a stick and he's a happy kid.





It quickly got cold and the fireworks went very late into the night.  There were exciting moments like when the Roman Candle exploded inside the tube while one of the teenagers was holding it.  (I didn't think people actually HELD them anymore...)  He was okay, but it was scary for a moment.  And then there was the time when the neighbor (who was incredibly reasonable) down the street came and asked that the Roman Candles be pointed a different direction as his daughter was just hit by one.  It was an impressive show, the kids had a great time with their friends and it was a fun departure from our usual low budget (but fun) 4th of July.  But it was quite cold and late and so we headed home before it was quite over.

Happy Birthday America!