Fourth of July

I got home from Choir Tour early in the morning on July 3rd and that afternoon, Andy and his family arrived from California. Hooray!  We took advantage of the opportunity to share one of our favorite Fourth of July traditions with them the next day, heading to Colonial Fest.  The kids tested out the stocks, made candles, played games, participated in children's chores, attended school, and marched in the children's militia.

By the time they'd finished with those things, it was getting hot.  But our kids wanted to go through Boot Camp, so we decided to stay a little longer.  Little did we know, we'd have to sign up for a later time, then Boot Camp would take an hour as they educated the new recruits about the history of American foreign wars and the vehicles and artillery used in each, then taught them tactics and had a mock battle.  In the middle of the day.  In July.  I suppose that firing a machine gun loaded with blanks made up for the long, hot, thirsty interactive history lesson.

Later that afternoon Oma and many of our extended family in the area joined us for a cookout at our house.  In addition to good food, we enjoyed playing card games (Sleeping Queens and Up and Down the River) while the kids tried to catch things on fire.

Everyone had different fireworks plans, so we parted ways in the evening.  The little group at our house - my family and my brother's - debated about where to go to watch fireworks and finally decided to head to Thanksgiving Point.  We thought we'd watch the show at the park but after a series of missteps and reconsiderations, we drove to Ben's office, where the conference room provided a wonderful, comfortable view of the fireworks happening just across the street.  Then we decided it was the best seat in the area and we'd have to continue this tradition for the rest of our lives.  We also appreciated seeing additional fireworks shows in the background, both while we were at Ben's office and while we were driving on the Interstate to Lehi.  There are times when a lack of trees comes in handy...

Happy Birthday, America!