4th of July 2010

For Bremerton, Washington the 4th of July is more than your average affair. Fireworks are completely legal to anyone who has money to buy them, regardless of whether they have all their fingers or not. And we aren't just speaking sparklers and roman candles. These are the big bangs that you would see at Disney World or any other professional show. Because of this, the 4th of July and the week preceding and following Independence Day around here is complete mayhem in terms of noise and splendor. Normally that would mean joyous celebration for us adults, but when you have a 2 year old and a 4 month old your perspective on the event is a tad different. In knowing what was to come, this being our 3rd Fourth of July in Bremerton, I began preparing Ashley for the event a couple weeks in advance. On car rides I would tell her about fireworks and how they are "loud, but beautiful and exciting." I would tell her it would surprise her, but that it is ok, and fun. So for weeks we would have conversations about fireworks. I also would show her a "tame" version of fireworks by putting on a Disney movie and showing her the blue Disney castle intro with Tinkerbell and the balls of lights that I would point to and say "fireworks!" And then Ashley would say, "loud, but beautiful and exciting mommy!"

Needless to say, she had a wonderful time celebrating the fourth of July with us. We all went over t0 the Hesses, which has become a fun annual tradition. Both Bodie and Ashley had special little chairs to sit on while watching the entertainment. Jason Hess did another amazing firework show in the parking lot across the street to celebrate the 4th and his 30th birthday. It seems every year the show becomes more precise and orchestrated. This year he even held a boom box up over his head for the crowd to hear the "Star Spangle Banner" before the main event.

The kids had a great time learning about sparklers and rolling down the hill on the grass. Bodie asked Ashley to dance with him 3 times, and 3 times Ashley said, "uhhh no." We were proud of them both. Bodie for having the courage to ask a girl to dance 3 times and surviving rejection and Ashley for having the spunk to say no to a boy! Ashley stayed up until we headed home around 9:30pm and Caitlyn slept soundly through the noise in a crib inside the house while we listened in with a monitor. We had a great time. Happy Birthday America! (and Jason!)