fireworks

We love the 4th of July.
We love the red, white and blue.
We love the gatherings of friends and family.
We love the freedom we enjoy in the great USA.
And we love to celebrate this great country and our freedom.
The 4th may be my favorite holiday.

This year we enjoyed a new tradition.  Hopefully, it will become an annual thing.  (hint, hint!)  That sweet Gina Entz hosts a great party.  I'm so thankful my kids have chosen such incredible friends.  It has given me some wonderful friends too :)

After dinner with some long time friends and some newer friends, the kids enjoyed hours of bangs, pops, sparkles and screams.

Not quite sure what happened to that red cup.  Gina wanted us to use our cups all evening but that didn't work well for Eli.  He had other plans for his fireworks and cup.

Abi would have been content to play with a punk all night.  She's got her mother's sense of adventure.

Did you see the lanterns this year?  They were so cool!!!  They are kind of like a hot air balloon that you light and then release.  The weather was absolutely perfect for them.  Very little wind so the lanterns just floated away once they were lit.  The grown-ups got totally involved with the lanterns and kind of forgot about the kids for a while.  We're pretty lucky they didn't burn the house down while we were "ooo"ing and "ahhh"ing.

Along with the lanterns, I love the big, colorful fireworks!  The Entz's have this incredible yard (it's really several acres in town).  Once it got dark, we could enjoy shows all around us.  Incredible and breath taking!

My favorite shot of the night...

This is Gina's baby, Jobie.  He is soooo adorable!  This was the end of the evening and everyone was getting tired.  After a sparkler dual with his brother, Jobie was just content to stare at the fire.  That's kind of how I felt.  So happy and content to just take in the show.