Hope everyone had a great fourth!
Today was an interesting, kind of emotional day. At first, it looked like we weren’t going anywhere…no fireworks or anything…because ‘J’ couldn’t cash his check, hence we had no money. Seeing as how it cost to get into the fairgrounds to watch the fireworks, it looked like we weren’t going to go. I was bummed to say the least. I told ‘J’ we should have just stayed ay Crystal’s…then we would have at least been able to do something. We got into a little argument. He left a bit later to go pick a few things up from the grocery store. He came back and asked if I wanted to go see the fireworks. I asked him how….we don’t have any money. He said the grocery store was able to cash his check.
So we got ready and got the boys ready and headed out to the fairgrounds just after 6:00.
We walked around, ate, walked around looking at the different booths, let the boys jump on the big blow-up jumping thing…lol, let them ride a pony, then we picked out a spot and spread the blanket on the ground. Got a little more to eat and then I walked around with the boys in the area we were sitting. We walked over to the small petting zoo that was set up. They were getting ready to put the animals away, so we couldn’t walk in and pet the animals….but we did so by standing outside of the fence. The boys got to pet goats, sheep, and even a pony! They were thrilled!
About 9:00 we sat back down and waited for the fireworks to start. A half hour later, they did. We ooo’d and ahhh’d and ‘K’ got scared (again - he got scared last year, too) for the first 5 minutes, then he was fine. I took some pictures and I’m hoping they turn out. This is the first year I remembered to bring my camera. Then the big finale and all was done. (When I was younger, the fireworks used to last a full half hour. Now it’s only about 18 minuets. Gettin’ chinzy as the years go on. )
We got everything packed real quick and raced to the car. ‘J’ hates sitting in traffic, so we wanted to get out of there quick. We did it! Instead of waiting an hour to get out of the fairgrounds, we got out in about 5 minuets. Took the longer way home, since the shorter way was backed up in traffic.
So, what I thought was going to be a bad day ended pretty good after all. Happy 4th!

I’m not exactly sure what we’re doing today…but at the very least we’ll be seeing the fireworks tonight. Here’s some info on this holiday.

History
Why the 4th?
Though the Fourth of July is almost iconic to Americans, some claim the date itself is somewhat arbitrary. New Englanders had been fighting Britain since April 1775. The first motion in the Continental Congress for independence was made on June 8. After hard debate, the Congress voted unanimously (12-0), but secretly, for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain on July 2. The Congress reworked the text of the Declaration until a little after eleven o’clock, July 4th, when twelve colonies voted for adoption and released an unsigned copy to the printers. (New York abstained from both votes.) Philadelphia celebrated the Declaration with public readings and bonfires on July 8. Not until August 2 would a fair printing be signed by the members of the Congress, but even that was kept secret to protect the members from British reprisal.

John Adams, credited by Thomas Jefferson as the unofficial, tireless whip of the independence-minded, wrote his wife Abigail on July 3:

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward for evermore.

Adams was off by two days, however. Certainly, the vote on July 2 was the decisive act. But July 4 is the date on the Declaration itself. Jefferson’s stirring prose, as edited by the Congress, was first adopted by the vote of the 4th. It was also the first day Philadelphians heard the official news of independence from the Continental Congress, as opposed to rumors in the street about secret votes.

History of Observance

• In 1777, British officers noted the firing of 13 guns, once at morning and again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white and blue bunting.
• In 1778, General George Washington marked the Fourth with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute. Across the sea, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.
• In 1779, the Fourth falls on a Sunday. Starting a long tradition, the holiday is celebrated on Monday, July 5.
• In 1781, Massachusetts was the first legislature to recognize Independence Day.
• In 1870, the U.S. Congress made July 4 an unpaid holiday for federal employees.

Customs
Independence Day, as the only holiday celebrating the country as a whole, is a national holiday marked by patriotic displays. Many politicians make it a point on this day to appear at a public event to praise the nation’s heritage and people. Families often mark the Fourth with a picnic or barbecue, and often gather in more distant relatives, taking advantage of the longer weekend. Parades are often held the morning of the Fourth, afternoon baseball games are not uncommon, and the evening is usually marked by public displays of fireworks.

In many states, smaller fireworks are sold for personal use or as an alternative to a public show. Concerns about safety have led some states to ban fireworks or limit the sizes and types allowed, but illicit traffic brings some of the more powerful firecrackers in from less restrictive border states.

One colorful annual Independence Day event is the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, which supposedly started on July 4, 1916 as a way to settle a dispute among four immigrants as to who was the most patriotic.

from Wikipedia

Yesterday morning we left for my sister-in-law’s to celebate my nephew’s 3rd birthday. He actually turned 3 on June 29th, but Crystal held a birthday/4th of July party yesterday for him. We left the apartment about 9:00 and got to Crystal’s about 12pm. Everybody was already there and the party wasn’t supposed to start til 1:00!
The boys had a great time playing with the other kids there…in the pools and the sandbox, and around the house. My brother-in-law (Crystal’s husband) grilled up some cheeseburgers and hotdogs….and we had potato and macaroni salads, chips and fruit. Then cupcakes later. Mmmmm!
We stayed til about 9pm, then headed home. We were going to saty the night and spent the 4th with them, but ‘J’s allergies were getting the best of him, so we came home. Got home about midnight and all crashed in the living room (the coolest room in the apartment).