Fireworks are Legal Here :)

Who doesn't love it when the fireworks light up the sky? It's something we look forward to every year!
All dressed up in our Red, White and Blue!

Friends, Fun, Fireworks. The best ways to celebrate our hard-won freedom!

The best aspect of living in a new place is building new traditions. With each FIRST holiday celebrated here, we are building more of them.

Our Stake puts on a fireworks show in Catawba, SC each year. It starts at 4pm with food, games, a bake-off, etc.

It reminded me of the block parties our neighborhood had when I was growing up. We would play all day. Tug-o-war, water balloons, have a pot-luck picnic, run in the sprinklers...and at the end of the night, the moms would pass out sparklers to the kids and the dads would light off some big fireworks.

We didn't make it there until right before the fireworks started this year, but it was still a blast. Literally! As in, fireworks blasting into the crowd on 2 different occasions. Nobody was hurt, but those brave families that had situated themselves the closest moved back in a hurry! It was kind of crazy, no firetrucks, no men with hoses....just a bunch of guys with lighters and professional grade pyrotechnics. That's South Carolina for you! (to be fair, we don't have the dry conditions here that we Westerners are used to...)

We almost made it away unscathed..Savannah had a hot piece of ash land on her chair. She jumped up fast enough to avoid burning her skin, but not fast enough to avoid singing the back of her shorts...and putting a hole in her camp chair. (I told her I'd put a cute patch on them and she was all smiles again).


She and her friend moved behind me after that little incident. Poor things. They were a bit spooked.
Sydney loved the whole thing though! There's something about fireworks with Dolly Parton belting it out in the background! She was hyped on candy and cuddles from her Dad and Mom!

And for our own private show on the actual holiday, behold the lot we scored on our way back from the beach last week.... We haven't played with the likes of these in more than a decade!

Happy Independence Day! Happy 234th Birthday, America!