Day 23- Happy 4th of July!!!

Ok, ok. So, today's event was hardly original. It was July 4th. And honestly, we all still kind of do the same things on July 4th that we did as kids. Let's just jump into it, shall we?

First up- morning at the pool. Now, the pool was having a neighborhood "open house", so there were no less than 459 people in the pool at any given time. Oddly enough, everyone was pretty cool. Kids played together. Parents didn't freak out. People dove for rings and torpedoes thrown in the deep end. It was really cool.

Skip ahead to the late afternoon. What else says 4th of July like a neighborhood block party? Everyone showed up bearing ridiculous amounts of food and wearing any and all combinations of red, white, and blue. (I've always loved that. Even as a kid.) Strangers immediately became friends. Kids who'd never met instantly began playing with each other. Everyone made themselves at home.

The best part was, when the kids were shooed outside to play, all the adults went out as well. Even when it started raining, we all stayed out in the rain! No one cared. No one complained. The kids were having a great time, and so were we.

When it was time to eat, everyone jammed back into the house and found a seat wherever they could. There was food galore and everyone ate until they just about busted. (What is it about a holiday that will make anyone, no matter how young they are, eat like it's their last meal??) Once we'd all eaten our fill, you know what time it was:

Now, Georgia has the same strict laws about fireworks as Florida had. So, you can't really get anything good here. Most people run on over to South Carolina and buy "illegal fireworks" if they want really good ones. But, this year, we had Georgia ones. There were a ridiculous amount of sparklers for anyone who wanted one. Spinners, tanks, little bottle rockets, and the stand up ones that shot sparks and made loud noises. The great thing was, the kids loved all of them. Not one of them was sad that we weren't at some big fireworks display. And, to tell the truth, the adults loved it, too. We all watched and laughed and enjoyed the explosions and coughed our heads off when the smoke got overwhelming.

All hands on deck for the big finale!

What a great way to end the 4th. All ages watching went "OOOOH!!!" and "YAAAAAAY!" when it was all done. We loved it. And it was great to just enjoy the spectacle of the sparks and explosions.

I think, in a way, on the 4th we're all kids. We all love the fun food and the time with big groups of friends. We love the fireworks. And, I think secretly if we had our way, we'd fall asleep in the back of a car while someone drove us home just like when we were 6. Happy 4th, everyone.