Wife and Mommy

July 4th has always been one of my favorite holidays…namely because it’s a low stress time to get together with people to cook-out and enjoy some fireworks. Good friends, good food and fireworks–what more could you ask for?

I’m lucky to live in the DC metro area, where the nation’s fireworks on The Mall are done right. Sadly, it’s been years since I’ve actually made it to town to see the fireworks that are shot off at the base of the Washington Monument. For one, the hassle of getting there and back has become tremendously time consuming. For another, the security measures these days makes it even more inconvenient. It used to be that we could picnic along the GW Parkway with our church group all day long, then settle in to watch the show across the Potomac River once the sun set. Or when I was a kid, my family would drive to the Pentagon’s parking lot at dusk and sit on our car’s hood to watch the display. Life was much easier back then.

I briefly considered going this year to show Bito, Cupcake and BabyMuffin (who would undoubtedly be snuggled-in-a-sling) the grand fireworks on The Mall, but we got invited to share the holiday with good friends. We had an all American dinner of burgers and dogs at their place and let the kids run around. When it got a bit darker, we lit sparklers which the children enjoyed. Then their neighbor set off some bigger fireworks obtained in another state. Bito and Cupcake were frightened by the noise, so they ran back into the house crying!

I’m so glad we didn’t make the trek into town only to find out there that the kids aren’t ready for the loud booms that accompany the beautiful colors in the sky. Maybe in a year or five, we’ll try it.