Happy 4th of July
Yesterday we went to vaxhacker's house for swimming, bbq and fireworks. The swimming was fun, the water was warm, and the kids had a great time and probably would have swum for a couple more hours if the sun stayed up. The bbq was almost okay, and it was my fault. I overcooked the burgers and the veggie patties. The kids were quick to notice and protest that the sandwhiches tasted like 'crap'. Opps. I will remember in the future that veggie patties don't take nearly as long as burger to cook. And I will check next time a bit more closer on the food when using a grill I am not familiar with. vaxhacker's grill is a bit (which means in this case A LOT) hotter than my little table top grill.
The fireworks were interesting. vaxhacker bought his annual large kit of fireworks to set off for the holiday. The kit comes with a variety of fireworks that can be loosely categorized into three broad groups, the small ones, the medium ones, and the larger ones. The small ones basically were fountains of sparks of various colors that shot off about 1-2 feet in the air, with an occasional whistle, pop or bang. The medium ones were basically a fountain of sparks of various colors that shot off about 2-4 feet in the air, with an occaional whistle, pop or bang. The larger ones were basically a fountain of sparks of various colors that shot off about 4-6 feet in the air usually with whistles or pops or bangs. The fun part for me was listing the names of the various individual fireworks. They all came with labels that identified the expected display and the types of names changed with which category they came from. The smaller ones were called 'lightening flash' which was basically a strobe effect flash and 'fountain' which was basically a small colored fountain of sparks. The middle ones ranged from 'Flower with Blossom' to 'Rose Blossom' to a favorite 'Peach Blossom in Spring time'. 'Sonic Boom' was not what you would expect. The name suggests that it would be loud enough to cause blood to pour from your ear, when reality is that I couldn't tell the difference between it and 'Peach Blossom in Spring time'. The larger ones had names like 'Zombies', 'Bizzare' and 'War Missles'. The two biggies 'T-Rex' and 'Miss Liberty' were by far the largest displays with the most colors and pops and bangs. But by the time we got to those 3 of the 4 kids had crashed and I was losing it myself.
Overall it was a fun night, the kids wore themselves out (at least mine did) swimming and were not capable of continuing the party after the fireworks. The 3rd is lady_galadriel_'s birthday, and birthday cakes was to be had after the fireworks. But by that time (1130ish) it was too late and the kids were already asleep, so we had to pass on the cake.
Today we go to my parents house for a bbq and movies and watching some fireworks from their home.
The fireworks were interesting. vaxhacker bought his annual large kit of fireworks to set off for the holiday. The kit comes with a variety of fireworks that can be loosely categorized into three broad groups, the small ones, the medium ones, and the larger ones. The small ones basically were fountains of sparks of various colors that shot off about 1-2 feet in the air, with an occasional whistle, pop or bang. The medium ones were basically a fountain of sparks of various colors that shot off about 2-4 feet in the air, with an occaional whistle, pop or bang. The larger ones were basically a fountain of sparks of various colors that shot off about 4-6 feet in the air usually with whistles or pops or bangs. The fun part for me was listing the names of the various individual fireworks. They all came with labels that identified the expected display and the types of names changed with which category they came from. The smaller ones were called 'lightening flash' which was basically a strobe effect flash and 'fountain' which was basically a small colored fountain of sparks. The middle ones ranged from 'Flower with Blossom' to 'Rose Blossom' to a favorite 'Peach Blossom in Spring time'. 'Sonic Boom' was not what you would expect. The name suggests that it would be loud enough to cause blood to pour from your ear, when reality is that I couldn't tell the difference between it and 'Peach Blossom in Spring time'. The larger ones had names like 'Zombies', 'Bizzare' and 'War Missles'. The two biggies 'T-Rex' and 'Miss Liberty' were by far the largest displays with the most colors and pops and bangs. But by the time we got to those 3 of the 4 kids had crashed and I was losing it myself.
Overall it was a fun night, the kids wore themselves out (at least mine did) swimming and were not capable of continuing the party after the fireworks. The 3rd is lady_galadriel_'s birthday, and birthday cakes was to be had after the fireworks. But by that time (1130ish) it was too late and the kids were already asleep, so we had to pass on the cake.
Today we go to my parents house for a bbq and movies and watching some fireworks from their home.