Stratreego and Oscar Mylar
The plan for today was to ride our bikes around the lake with Ingrid around 7:30 and then go to the pancake breakfast the Lion's club was holding at 8am. It started with me not being ready at 7:30 and ended with Ingrid calling to cancel. Undeterred I decided to go bike riding myself.
Bike
I was using my son's bike and knew it needed to have the tires inflated so I got my backpack all set up and my headphones on right. I checked before starting off and they were ok enough to ride to the gas station. I didn't get far. As it turned out the tires were the least of my problems with the bike. I found out quickly that the handlebars and front wheel don't stay aligned (a quick tightening would fix that). However the worst was that it wouldn't shift down to 1st gear making getting the bike started really hard because the pedals don't propel the bike much.
I ultimately spent 30 minutes trying to fix the gears on the bike before deciding that it was a waste of my time at the moment to work on it. So I put the bike back in the house and grabbed my car keys. I decided that walking the lake was better than nothing and set out. I got about half way to the park and then had to turn around to get my backpack, which in my frustration I had forgotten.
Walking for Exercise
I was able to park my car in the normal spot (not many people around at 8:30 even). As I got started I passed people who were setting up the logging competition stuff and getting ready for the events. This is the first time I have been to the lake early enough to see set up.
I walked my usual path which took my past all the food and flea market booths. I saw the people in line for the pancakes and thought it was too big for me to mess with at the moment. Besides I was more at the lake this time around to work off my frustration with the bike. So I turned down the path in front of the food vendors and headed towards the footbridge. I realized that with this decision I was now carrying a backpack that I didn't need to bring in the first place. -_-
As I passed by the flea market I noticed that even by this time (now getting close to 9am) they weren't open yet. The paper really never says when the flea market opens so I was curious. There were a lot of people passing me to either set up for the day or to bring chairs and blankets to mark out their spot for the fireworks that evening. The path goes actually behind the flea market vendors and took me past a vehicle parked on the grass (not unusual for vendors) and a guy whom I didn't realize until too late was yelling at random passer's by.
He basically said that of course he was pissed because people could sell marijuana t-shirts but he couldn't sell bottled water. I kind of understood his plight but at the same time was kind of taken aback because he started shouting at me adding that people could sell drug paraphernalia (which I never saw btw) but he couldn't sell bottled water. I didn't engage him at all, but I know that the reason he wasn't allowed to sell the water was most likely because he didn't apply for or pay for a permit. It wouldn't be fair to the other vendors who had paid for permits. This is the same for any public event or festival. Ultimately I just kept on walking.
I noticed that even though I was just walking I was getting tired and working up a sweat. I was kind of concerned about what this would mean for the rest of the day. If I was sweating just from walking the lake on my normal route, it might be tough for me to walk later for fun.
Walking for Fun
I headed home and got there around 9:30. I was ready for the day by 10:30 and got a call from Erik shortly after getting downstairs. He and Darren were ready to do something and wondered when I would be ready. I told them that I was pretty much ready now. So they headed to grandma's and I agreed to meet them there.
I got my backpack together again. I grabbed a light wallet to keep my money in and two bottles of Aquifina to keep my hydrated in the event that it was hot out. I also grabbed my cell phone incase Dustin called and then headed out. As I was driving to grandma's it began to rain. -_-
I arrived and parked my car along the main road (not grandma's street) so it would be easily accessible later for the fireworks. I went inside and talked with Erik, Darren and grandma for a bit before we decided it was time to head out. Since the rain hadn't let up much I asked grandma if she had some umbrella's we could borrow. I got two out of her car and Darren had one in his car. Soon we were ready for the rain and headed out. ^_^
We had just gotten started out and were not even passed Grandma's neighbors house when I noticed something wrong with my shoe. I looked at the bottom of my shoe and found a nail in it. I had come VERY close to a trip to the hospital (since I don't' have a doctor that's where I would have had to go for my tetanus shot. -_-). Thankfully the nail was a roofing nail (grandma's neighbor recently re-roofed the house) and I was able to pull it out with pliers from Darren's car. As we got started again I noticed more nails on the sidewalk. O_o
On the walk to the lake we passed many people heading home because it was too wet all of a sudden. We continued on our path to the lake. We quickly crossed the street by the lake and walked down the row of vendors. The first booth I stopped at I picked up some cheesy festival beads to wear. I know it's something probably geared more for someone younger but I don't care. I was already wearing beads a friend of my daughter gave me from Louisiana. ^_^
Next I came on a place selling die cast cars and picked up a small RX-8 like the RX-7 I already have. A couple of booth's down Darren found a good selection of lighters and picked up one for lighting fireworks.
FOOD
After the lighter it was clearly time to get food. We had called Ingrid and she was going to meet us at the arch entrance to the park right near the food booths. Erik joked with her about riding her bike with the big mylar hotdog on the back and when she arrived she had it. ^_^ She locked it up to a street sign and we wondered how many people were going to think there was a hotdog stand there. ^_^
Our first food booth to check out was the Vegi Burger booth. They have AWESOME funnel cakes that I look forward to each year. I was surprised then to see them not on the menu. I asked when I got to the front and found that the machine had broken last year and they never could get it fixed. I was disappointed but undeterred. I got the strawberry shortcake instead and DAMN was that good!!!
Erik and Darren got the deep fried Twinkies. We headed down toward the main row of food booths from there. Ingrid and Darren got some kind of Russian pastry filled with meat. I bought something similar that didn't have the meat in it but added raspberry syrup to instead. ^_^
Oscar Mylar
Erik lamented that he didn't have an ATM to go to because he wanted to buy more things but didn't have cash. I pointed out that there were ATMs by the arch way entrance so we headed over to get them. Ingrid checked on her bike and picked up a baked corn on the cob topped with Parmesan cheese. When she got back she commented that she loved her hotdog balloon. I asked her if it was Oscar Mylar. Erik groaned and said that I was not allowed to be funnier than he was. ^_^
MORE FOOD
After picking up some cash we headed back to find more food options. We tried a sample of the barbeque salmon but were dissuaded by the price ($12 each). Erik decided to pick up some fresh kettle corn and cotton candy. We headed back down the row of food vendors where Darren got some nachos and I picked up a hotdog with nacho cheese (mmmm). I found a place (run by The Arc) that was selling just soda for $1 each. I got my diet Pepsi there (apparently Corwin beverage had some deal going so vendors could only sell Pepsi this year. I find that sort of thing kind of petty. -_-).
Erik wanted nachos but figured there would be a different place selling them that might be better. He found it right at the end. They had chili and cheese nachos. (another MMMM). :D
Flea Market
After all the food we decided it was time to head down row of vendors on the side of the park we hadn't come to yet. This side is the biggest side of the flea market and has many more booths to look through. We routinely lost each other only to have to use our cell phones to find each other (so sad… yes). I found what I was looking for though. I got grandma a new fabric windmill for her garden. ^_^ I also found a Coca Cola light switch cover that matches my metal calendar. ^_^
After walking around some more and looking at some of the cars on display from a local dealership we headed back toward the middle of the festival. On the way back we found a booth selling old black and white photos. A lot of them were of the local area's logging industry (photos I have seen all over this town). The one that caught my attention though was and old photo of Snoqualmie Summit. I was definitely sold on that one. I also found pictures of old Spokane and Pullman. I joked that I should send one to Debby. ^_^
We walked back to the brick plaza and I decided that it was probably about time to call Bo and get the kids over to the park as well. Every one was up and ready to go so I had them just walk to the lake and meet us at the plaza. This was around 3:30. Ingrid decided she wanted to head home then and not long after Darren wanted to go back there too to get his meds for the evening. So Erik and I waited at the plaza for the rest of the group to show.
While we waited I ran into a few people I know from work. They had just arrived there. After all the people Ingrid ran into that she knew it was kind of nice to run into people I recognized. ^_^ Erik and I sat down in the grass to wait and I decided this would be a good time to call Dustin and see where he was. Apparently he was still in Hillsboro! O_O He was so tired the night before that he forgot to tell me that he was going to be at a barbeque with friends from the Beaverton area. I told him that if he couldn't make it to visit with us at the lake that it would be fine. I completely understand having to visit so many people on one day. ^_^
The Others
Bo, PJ and the kids arrived in around 20 minutes and we headed back towards the food to see what we could get. To be honest I really wanted them to join us so my son could get the teriyaki chicken skewers he loves so much. My daughter also found numerous things to eat and in the end both were more than happy to have been dragged out of the house and made to walk all that way. ^_^
We were there talking and eating for quite a while. My daughter ran into a number of her friends both from school and the library while at the park. One of which was her friend Brandy. Brandy is the girl who moved to Louisiana and the one that gave me the beads (some of which I was wearing to the festival).
Before we left the food area I wanted to get another strawberry shortcake so we headed back over to the Vegi Burger booth. Sadly they were out of the shortcake. The lady said they would have some in 10 minutes but I expected to be headed back to the house by then. So we moved on and Erik picked up a roasted corncob for himself. ^_^
We headed back across the bridge and were going to head down the row of flea market booths that Erik, Darren and I had gone past on our way in. Erik and PJ decided that they wanted to go back and pick up something from the food booths first though. So we stopped just to the side of the plaza and waited there for them. While we waited my son's best friend and his girlfriend (also my sons friend) walked up.
After about 20 minutes Erik and PJ finally returned. They had picked up another roasted corn on the cob (for PJ this time) and three of the strawberry shortcakes (one for me ^_^). They also picked up some soda at the Arc booth. ^_^
Returning to Grandmas
My son didn't want to stop talking with his friends so soon so I invited them to walk down the row of booths with us just until we got to the end of them. My son liked that idea and they followed us.
I was hoping to find something else before leaving and at the very least perhaps some glow sticks but I didn't find anything more that I wanted. I think that in the end that was for the best because it meant I came in under the money I had brought to spend.
It was now around 4:30. My kids said good bye to their friends (both are friends with my daughter as well but they are my son's friends first) and we headed off down the street toward grandmas. Before we turned off though I noticed that about 15 people were going to return to their car to find a not so happy 4th. They all had parking tickets for parking in a vendor reserved permit only zone. It made me glad that I had walked. ^_^
The walk back went fairly quickly and the only complaints were from my daughter. She brought the wrong kind of shoes and was now paying the price for that decision. I also noticed when we got back to the neighbors house that the nails all seemed to be gone. That's good because then no one else could get hurt.
Quick Nap
I was pretty tired when we got back but very impressed that after 5 hours of walking and being on my feet I was doing ok and not exhausted. I felt the need for a nap any way and layed down on my grandma's bed. An hour later I woke up.
Muffy
I had just gotten out of bed when Bo pointed out that Muffy was in the house and wanted to get by. I moved to get him when he ran back towards Bo. After some running back and forth I finally caught him and brought him into grandma's room. I knew the fireworks were going to make him nuts and so putting him in the room would help him to feel safer with all the loud noises around. I laid on the bed with him petting him for a while before I let him got. He calmed down a bit but the fireworks still had him on edge. Good thing he has calmed down over a year ago when he would have torn me apart just for picking him up while he was in such shock.
Dinner
I finally woke up enough after this to see what was going on with dinner, it was now 6pm and I wondered how things were going. To my complete lack of surprise everyone had left everything to grandma. -_- I asked grandma what the plan was for grilling and she said she was waiting for someone else to do it.
My original plan for this was to do it myself but the bright idea dawned on me to ask Darren. I know he LOVES grilling and I know he's awesome at it. Thankfully he accepted the job. ^_^ First though I asked him if he wouldn't mind helping out by taking Bo to the store and to my apartment to pick up my older cooler. Again I am thankful that he helped out with this. For the mean time I helped grandma with setting up the grill and getting the charcoal lit.
While they were gone I had PJ call mom and dad to see where they were. Apparently they were waiting for someone to call. -_-
When Darren and Bo returned I let Darren get right to the grilling. I also helped Bo set up the cooler so that sodas could be cold by the time dinner was ready. I then got out the fireworks from the trunk of my car. I also brought out the glow sticks I had purchased from Target almost a month ago. They were a tube of 15 for $1 so I bought 4. ^_^
It became quickly apparent that even with $170 in fireworks it wouldn't be enough. So I asked mom if we could borrow her car to go to pick up even MORE fireworks. Erik and I headed down to the same fireworks stand we bought the others from and picked up another $90 in fireworks. We were definitely loaded now! :D
StraTREEgo
It took a while for dinner to be ready so I looked through the fireworks. I decided that perhaps we should set off a few in the mean time (none of the showy ones just a few of the smaller ones). Erik and I got things together and lit a few off. We started with one that Erik picked up that we didn't have before. It was a kind of pyramid looking thing. It spun around and shot up in the air, which was pretty cool. It was the kids visiting the next door neighbors that thought it was the most fun though. They said "That was cool! Do it again!" hehe.
Next up we shot off one of the 4 mortars we picked up. The shot went up in the air and the fall out from it came down in two pieces. One of those hit the hood of one of the neighbor's visitor's very new looking Durango. This cracked us up only because one of the kids shouted "Hey that's my car! Dad their fireworks hit our car!" hehe. We went inside shortly because mom called us to dinner, however we noticed that the guy had gone out and quickly moved his vehicle into the driveway of another neighbor who was not home. ^_^
[The story behind the section title is that the neighbor before this one planted this tree in the front yard to spite my grandma (yes she was just that kind of dirty petty). The tree is big enough now that it blocks view of the fireworks. Erik was joking that we needed to wage war on the tree by lining up the firework tanks and aim them at it. He called it StraTREEgo. ^_^]
Dinner was finally ready! I got a hamburger, hotdog and jello salad to keep my dinner simple so I could be ready to start the show as soon as people were done.
Fireworks!!
As soon as I finished my food I went outside to get the fireworks lined up for use. I had my kids bring chairs from outside while Erik, Darren, PJ and I got to work setting things off. We started with many of the smoke bombs, strobe lights and flowers. We also set off a few of the ones Erik picked up that were oddities. One of these was a penguin. It shot fireworks from it's eyes…I don't know what to really say about that. O_o Darren and PJ also incited tank war. :D
We got a system going where most of the boys set of the fireworks. Every once in a while I would get up to set off one of the ones I liked (mostly the mortars). I noticed that as it got darker the mosquitoes came out and we lit the punks that came with the fireworks box set we got to keep them away. ^_^
We had so much fun lighting off fireworks that we didn't even pay attention to the show at the lake. We just kept at it setting off one after another. Some that I want to keep in mind for next year to pick up are as follows:
Shooting Star
Texas Cyclone
Big Saturn Missiles
Rain Dance
Bigger Mortars
One shot cannon with parachute and molar streamers.
The favorite for the night was the Shooting Star. Thankfully we bought two of these and they lasted a LONG time too. The most unexpectedly amusing firework would be the one shot cannon that we thought didn't do much until someone noticed that some very LONG Mylar streamers were caught on the street light post! It had shot off a parachute with the streamers and apparently they got tangled on the light. Erik got a picture with his camera. ^_^ They were still there when we left last night too.
The fireworks wound down around 11pm. The last thing we brought out was the sparklers, which just about everyone played with but me (not a big fan…well neither is Ingrid).
Winding Down
I had the kids take the chairs back into the back yard. We helped grandma get things put away for the night in the kitchen. We also helped clean up the used fireworks and threw them away. Ingrid rode home with Karen. Mom and dad left for the hotel. Darren and Erik left around the same time I did and PJ stayed the night at my place once again as well.
Once I got home I resolved to take a shower. I had been around a lot of the fireworks and my hair just felt yucky. I tell you it took me two shampoo's to get all the gunk out. I don't remember my hair ever feeling as heavy as it did when I first soaked it with water. I was definitely glad to have it clean before bed though!
One last downside to the evening was that because of the low cloud cover all of the smoke that would normally have dissipated was trapped and it looked like a hazy day in San Francisco with all the firework smoke. I had to open my window in my bedroom to cool it off but it also brought in a bunch of the smoke smell. -_-
I was definitely tired from the day and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. ^_^ It was definitely one of my favorite 4th's. I hope we can re-create it next year. I definitely turned my day around and am glad I did! ^_^
Bike
I was using my son's bike and knew it needed to have the tires inflated so I got my backpack all set up and my headphones on right. I checked before starting off and they were ok enough to ride to the gas station. I didn't get far. As it turned out the tires were the least of my problems with the bike. I found out quickly that the handlebars and front wheel don't stay aligned (a quick tightening would fix that). However the worst was that it wouldn't shift down to 1st gear making getting the bike started really hard because the pedals don't propel the bike much.
I ultimately spent 30 minutes trying to fix the gears on the bike before deciding that it was a waste of my time at the moment to work on it. So I put the bike back in the house and grabbed my car keys. I decided that walking the lake was better than nothing and set out. I got about half way to the park and then had to turn around to get my backpack, which in my frustration I had forgotten.
Walking for Exercise
I was able to park my car in the normal spot (not many people around at 8:30 even). As I got started I passed people who were setting up the logging competition stuff and getting ready for the events. This is the first time I have been to the lake early enough to see set up.
I walked my usual path which took my past all the food and flea market booths. I saw the people in line for the pancakes and thought it was too big for me to mess with at the moment. Besides I was more at the lake this time around to work off my frustration with the bike. So I turned down the path in front of the food vendors and headed towards the footbridge. I realized that with this decision I was now carrying a backpack that I didn't need to bring in the first place. -_-
As I passed by the flea market I noticed that even by this time (now getting close to 9am) they weren't open yet. The paper really never says when the flea market opens so I was curious. There were a lot of people passing me to either set up for the day or to bring chairs and blankets to mark out their spot for the fireworks that evening. The path goes actually behind the flea market vendors and took me past a vehicle parked on the grass (not unusual for vendors) and a guy whom I didn't realize until too late was yelling at random passer's by.
He basically said that of course he was pissed because people could sell marijuana t-shirts but he couldn't sell bottled water. I kind of understood his plight but at the same time was kind of taken aback because he started shouting at me adding that people could sell drug paraphernalia (which I never saw btw) but he couldn't sell bottled water. I didn't engage him at all, but I know that the reason he wasn't allowed to sell the water was most likely because he didn't apply for or pay for a permit. It wouldn't be fair to the other vendors who had paid for permits. This is the same for any public event or festival. Ultimately I just kept on walking.
I noticed that even though I was just walking I was getting tired and working up a sweat. I was kind of concerned about what this would mean for the rest of the day. If I was sweating just from walking the lake on my normal route, it might be tough for me to walk later for fun.
Walking for Fun
I headed home and got there around 9:30. I was ready for the day by 10:30 and got a call from Erik shortly after getting downstairs. He and Darren were ready to do something and wondered when I would be ready. I told them that I was pretty much ready now. So they headed to grandma's and I agreed to meet them there.
I got my backpack together again. I grabbed a light wallet to keep my money in and two bottles of Aquifina to keep my hydrated in the event that it was hot out. I also grabbed my cell phone incase Dustin called and then headed out. As I was driving to grandma's it began to rain. -_-
I arrived and parked my car along the main road (not grandma's street) so it would be easily accessible later for the fireworks. I went inside and talked with Erik, Darren and grandma for a bit before we decided it was time to head out. Since the rain hadn't let up much I asked grandma if she had some umbrella's we could borrow. I got two out of her car and Darren had one in his car. Soon we were ready for the rain and headed out. ^_^
We had just gotten started out and were not even passed Grandma's neighbors house when I noticed something wrong with my shoe. I looked at the bottom of my shoe and found a nail in it. I had come VERY close to a trip to the hospital (since I don't' have a doctor that's where I would have had to go for my tetanus shot. -_-). Thankfully the nail was a roofing nail (grandma's neighbor recently re-roofed the house) and I was able to pull it out with pliers from Darren's car. As we got started again I noticed more nails on the sidewalk. O_o
On the walk to the lake we passed many people heading home because it was too wet all of a sudden. We continued on our path to the lake. We quickly crossed the street by the lake and walked down the row of vendors. The first booth I stopped at I picked up some cheesy festival beads to wear. I know it's something probably geared more for someone younger but I don't care. I was already wearing beads a friend of my daughter gave me from Louisiana. ^_^
Next I came on a place selling die cast cars and picked up a small RX-8 like the RX-7 I already have. A couple of booth's down Darren found a good selection of lighters and picked up one for lighting fireworks.
FOOD
After the lighter it was clearly time to get food. We had called Ingrid and she was going to meet us at the arch entrance to the park right near the food booths. Erik joked with her about riding her bike with the big mylar hotdog on the back and when she arrived she had it. ^_^ She locked it up to a street sign and we wondered how many people were going to think there was a hotdog stand there. ^_^
Our first food booth to check out was the Vegi Burger booth. They have AWESOME funnel cakes that I look forward to each year. I was surprised then to see them not on the menu. I asked when I got to the front and found that the machine had broken last year and they never could get it fixed. I was disappointed but undeterred. I got the strawberry shortcake instead and DAMN was that good!!!
Erik and Darren got the deep fried Twinkies. We headed down toward the main row of food booths from there. Ingrid and Darren got some kind of Russian pastry filled with meat. I bought something similar that didn't have the meat in it but added raspberry syrup to instead. ^_^
Oscar Mylar
Erik lamented that he didn't have an ATM to go to because he wanted to buy more things but didn't have cash. I pointed out that there were ATMs by the arch way entrance so we headed over to get them. Ingrid checked on her bike and picked up a baked corn on the cob topped with Parmesan cheese. When she got back she commented that she loved her hotdog balloon. I asked her if it was Oscar Mylar. Erik groaned and said that I was not allowed to be funnier than he was. ^_^
MORE FOOD
After picking up some cash we headed back to find more food options. We tried a sample of the barbeque salmon but were dissuaded by the price ($12 each). Erik decided to pick up some fresh kettle corn and cotton candy. We headed back down the row of food vendors where Darren got some nachos and I picked up a hotdog with nacho cheese (mmmm). I found a place (run by The Arc) that was selling just soda for $1 each. I got my diet Pepsi there (apparently Corwin beverage had some deal going so vendors could only sell Pepsi this year. I find that sort of thing kind of petty. -_-).
Erik wanted nachos but figured there would be a different place selling them that might be better. He found it right at the end. They had chili and cheese nachos. (another MMMM). :D
Flea Market
After all the food we decided it was time to head down row of vendors on the side of the park we hadn't come to yet. This side is the biggest side of the flea market and has many more booths to look through. We routinely lost each other only to have to use our cell phones to find each other (so sad… yes). I found what I was looking for though. I got grandma a new fabric windmill for her garden. ^_^ I also found a Coca Cola light switch cover that matches my metal calendar. ^_^
After walking around some more and looking at some of the cars on display from a local dealership we headed back toward the middle of the festival. On the way back we found a booth selling old black and white photos. A lot of them were of the local area's logging industry (photos I have seen all over this town). The one that caught my attention though was and old photo of Snoqualmie Summit. I was definitely sold on that one. I also found pictures of old Spokane and Pullman. I joked that I should send one to Debby. ^_^
We walked back to the brick plaza and I decided that it was probably about time to call Bo and get the kids over to the park as well. Every one was up and ready to go so I had them just walk to the lake and meet us at the plaza. This was around 3:30. Ingrid decided she wanted to head home then and not long after Darren wanted to go back there too to get his meds for the evening. So Erik and I waited at the plaza for the rest of the group to show.
While we waited I ran into a few people I know from work. They had just arrived there. After all the people Ingrid ran into that she knew it was kind of nice to run into people I recognized. ^_^ Erik and I sat down in the grass to wait and I decided this would be a good time to call Dustin and see where he was. Apparently he was still in Hillsboro! O_O He was so tired the night before that he forgot to tell me that he was going to be at a barbeque with friends from the Beaverton area. I told him that if he couldn't make it to visit with us at the lake that it would be fine. I completely understand having to visit so many people on one day. ^_^
The Others
Bo, PJ and the kids arrived in around 20 minutes and we headed back towards the food to see what we could get. To be honest I really wanted them to join us so my son could get the teriyaki chicken skewers he loves so much. My daughter also found numerous things to eat and in the end both were more than happy to have been dragged out of the house and made to walk all that way. ^_^
We were there talking and eating for quite a while. My daughter ran into a number of her friends both from school and the library while at the park. One of which was her friend Brandy. Brandy is the girl who moved to Louisiana and the one that gave me the beads (some of which I was wearing to the festival).
Before we left the food area I wanted to get another strawberry shortcake so we headed back over to the Vegi Burger booth. Sadly they were out of the shortcake. The lady said they would have some in 10 minutes but I expected to be headed back to the house by then. So we moved on and Erik picked up a roasted corncob for himself. ^_^
We headed back across the bridge and were going to head down the row of flea market booths that Erik, Darren and I had gone past on our way in. Erik and PJ decided that they wanted to go back and pick up something from the food booths first though. So we stopped just to the side of the plaza and waited there for them. While we waited my son's best friend and his girlfriend (also my sons friend) walked up.
After about 20 minutes Erik and PJ finally returned. They had picked up another roasted corn on the cob (for PJ this time) and three of the strawberry shortcakes (one for me ^_^). They also picked up some soda at the Arc booth. ^_^
Returning to Grandmas
My son didn't want to stop talking with his friends so soon so I invited them to walk down the row of booths with us just until we got to the end of them. My son liked that idea and they followed us.
I was hoping to find something else before leaving and at the very least perhaps some glow sticks but I didn't find anything more that I wanted. I think that in the end that was for the best because it meant I came in under the money I had brought to spend.
It was now around 4:30. My kids said good bye to their friends (both are friends with my daughter as well but they are my son's friends first) and we headed off down the street toward grandmas. Before we turned off though I noticed that about 15 people were going to return to their car to find a not so happy 4th. They all had parking tickets for parking in a vendor reserved permit only zone. It made me glad that I had walked. ^_^
The walk back went fairly quickly and the only complaints were from my daughter. She brought the wrong kind of shoes and was now paying the price for that decision. I also noticed when we got back to the neighbors house that the nails all seemed to be gone. That's good because then no one else could get hurt.
Quick Nap
I was pretty tired when we got back but very impressed that after 5 hours of walking and being on my feet I was doing ok and not exhausted. I felt the need for a nap any way and layed down on my grandma's bed. An hour later I woke up.
Muffy
I had just gotten out of bed when Bo pointed out that Muffy was in the house and wanted to get by. I moved to get him when he ran back towards Bo. After some running back and forth I finally caught him and brought him into grandma's room. I knew the fireworks were going to make him nuts and so putting him in the room would help him to feel safer with all the loud noises around. I laid on the bed with him petting him for a while before I let him got. He calmed down a bit but the fireworks still had him on edge. Good thing he has calmed down over a year ago when he would have torn me apart just for picking him up while he was in such shock.
Dinner
I finally woke up enough after this to see what was going on with dinner, it was now 6pm and I wondered how things were going. To my complete lack of surprise everyone had left everything to grandma. -_- I asked grandma what the plan was for grilling and she said she was waiting for someone else to do it.
My original plan for this was to do it myself but the bright idea dawned on me to ask Darren. I know he LOVES grilling and I know he's awesome at it. Thankfully he accepted the job. ^_^ First though I asked him if he wouldn't mind helping out by taking Bo to the store and to my apartment to pick up my older cooler. Again I am thankful that he helped out with this. For the mean time I helped grandma with setting up the grill and getting the charcoal lit.
While they were gone I had PJ call mom and dad to see where they were. Apparently they were waiting for someone to call. -_-
When Darren and Bo returned I let Darren get right to the grilling. I also helped Bo set up the cooler so that sodas could be cold by the time dinner was ready. I then got out the fireworks from the trunk of my car. I also brought out the glow sticks I had purchased from Target almost a month ago. They were a tube of 15 for $1 so I bought 4. ^_^
It became quickly apparent that even with $170 in fireworks it wouldn't be enough. So I asked mom if we could borrow her car to go to pick up even MORE fireworks. Erik and I headed down to the same fireworks stand we bought the others from and picked up another $90 in fireworks. We were definitely loaded now! :D
StraTREEgo
It took a while for dinner to be ready so I looked through the fireworks. I decided that perhaps we should set off a few in the mean time (none of the showy ones just a few of the smaller ones). Erik and I got things together and lit a few off. We started with one that Erik picked up that we didn't have before. It was a kind of pyramid looking thing. It spun around and shot up in the air, which was pretty cool. It was the kids visiting the next door neighbors that thought it was the most fun though. They said "That was cool! Do it again!" hehe.
Next up we shot off one of the 4 mortars we picked up. The shot went up in the air and the fall out from it came down in two pieces. One of those hit the hood of one of the neighbor's visitor's very new looking Durango. This cracked us up only because one of the kids shouted "Hey that's my car! Dad their fireworks hit our car!" hehe. We went inside shortly because mom called us to dinner, however we noticed that the guy had gone out and quickly moved his vehicle into the driveway of another neighbor who was not home. ^_^
[The story behind the section title is that the neighbor before this one planted this tree in the front yard to spite my grandma (yes she was just that kind of dirty petty). The tree is big enough now that it blocks view of the fireworks. Erik was joking that we needed to wage war on the tree by lining up the firework tanks and aim them at it. He called it StraTREEgo. ^_^]
Dinner was finally ready! I got a hamburger, hotdog and jello salad to keep my dinner simple so I could be ready to start the show as soon as people were done.
Fireworks!!
As soon as I finished my food I went outside to get the fireworks lined up for use. I had my kids bring chairs from outside while Erik, Darren, PJ and I got to work setting things off. We started with many of the smoke bombs, strobe lights and flowers. We also set off a few of the ones Erik picked up that were oddities. One of these was a penguin. It shot fireworks from it's eyes…I don't know what to really say about that. O_o Darren and PJ also incited tank war. :D
We got a system going where most of the boys set of the fireworks. Every once in a while I would get up to set off one of the ones I liked (mostly the mortars). I noticed that as it got darker the mosquitoes came out and we lit the punks that came with the fireworks box set we got to keep them away. ^_^
We had so much fun lighting off fireworks that we didn't even pay attention to the show at the lake. We just kept at it setting off one after another. Some that I want to keep in mind for next year to pick up are as follows:
Shooting Star
Texas Cyclone
Big Saturn Missiles
Rain Dance
Bigger Mortars
One shot cannon with parachute and molar streamers.
The favorite for the night was the Shooting Star. Thankfully we bought two of these and they lasted a LONG time too. The most unexpectedly amusing firework would be the one shot cannon that we thought didn't do much until someone noticed that some very LONG Mylar streamers were caught on the street light post! It had shot off a parachute with the streamers and apparently they got tangled on the light. Erik got a picture with his camera. ^_^ They were still there when we left last night too.
The fireworks wound down around 11pm. The last thing we brought out was the sparklers, which just about everyone played with but me (not a big fan…well neither is Ingrid).
Winding Down
I had the kids take the chairs back into the back yard. We helped grandma get things put away for the night in the kitchen. We also helped clean up the used fireworks and threw them away. Ingrid rode home with Karen. Mom and dad left for the hotel. Darren and Erik left around the same time I did and PJ stayed the night at my place once again as well.
Once I got home I resolved to take a shower. I had been around a lot of the fireworks and my hair just felt yucky. I tell you it took me two shampoo's to get all the gunk out. I don't remember my hair ever feeling as heavy as it did when I first soaked it with water. I was definitely glad to have it clean before bed though!
One last downside to the evening was that because of the low cloud cover all of the smoke that would normally have dissipated was trapped and it looked like a hazy day in San Francisco with all the firework smoke. I had to open my window in my bedroom to cool it off but it also brought in a bunch of the smoke smell. -_-
I was definitely tired from the day and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow. ^_^ It was definitely one of my favorite 4th's. I hope we can re-create it next year. I definitely turned my day around and am glad I did! ^_^