Family, Friends, Fun & Fireworks

At 11:45 p.m. last night, Kevin and I sat on two lawn chairs in our backyard enjoying the cool night breeze, the booms of neighbors still setting off firecrackers, the sound of an airplane flying over our house and the buzzing noise from the baby monitor as Brooklyn was fast asleep in her room. We both agreed that this had been the best day!

It started out with homemade waffles with fruit for breakfast and ended in an amazing fireworks display. The best part about the whole day was spending the day with our family and friends. Brooklyn started a water fight soon after we had lunch. When I say started, I mean she was running around the yard with the hose in her hand throwing water on people, namely me to start with. Everyone was laughing so hard, she kept doing it! It escaladed to the grown-ups grabbing cups of water then jugs of water and chasing each other around in the backyard waiting for the right moment to attack. Some people were held down as they got soaked and others were simply sprayed with the hose. Kevin got the wettest as Brooklyn was highly encouraged, even had some help, to spray her daddy with the hose. He just sat there and let her spray him. The water fight ended with Kevin running to the front of the house to grab the front hose and spray to the backyard. By the end, everyone was either soaked, damp, and Brooklyn who started the whole thing, was swinging away.

Kevin got to show off his 250+ TV channels, Brooklyn got to spend a whole day outside with water and her playground, I got to toss around (and pitch some) a softball with my dad and sister and everyone got to talk, share stories and laugh. By the end of the day, everyone headed home and Brooklyn, Kevin, my sister and I headed to a fireworks display. After sitting there for about 30 minutes and with the wind and rain threatening a good fireworks show, we finally began the countdown. 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....


Brooklyn's eyes were the size of quarters, she was clapping, dancing a little, saying "go-go" and "yea!!" That's the only way to enjoy fireworks when you're that little, and it was worth sitting in an hour's worth of traffic leaving the show just to see her face and watch how excited she was. As we sat there watching the fireworks light up the night sky and listen to the music montage that was playing, I was reminded how truly great it is to be an American!!

"And I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today. ‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA."