We had a great 4th of July this year. The day was packed with fun stuff, but it somehow felt very relaxed as well. We didn't plan anything really until last minute, which in days past would have stressed me out, but just going with the flow really made for a fun, relaxed day.
A few days before the 4th, Mariah started decorating. My kids know if they want anything holiday-ish, they probably need to do it themselves.
We decided to venture out to the city Libery Festival. We were a little hesitant with our girls to head into unknown levels of noise, crowds, chaos, and excitement. We were so glad we did it! The activities were very kid oriented, and the girls loved it! I was sad this was our last opportunity to celebrate the 4th in Oklahoma.
We watched a couple minutes of the kids' parade, but then realized we were in perfect position to jump in line for the horse rides that were just starting. Perfect timing. The line formed quickly behind us, but we only had to wait for 2 groups (about 3 minutes each). Elaine and Mariah, who have both ridden full-sized horses, were pros. Sally was pretty nervous at first; I asked her if she wanted to be done. She said no, she just needed to hold onto my arm.
When the girls were done riding, they got to pet some rabbits and a chicken. Again with only a 5 minute wait in line.
Mike stood in line for face painting while the girls made necklaces at a neighboring table. They finished the necklaces just as it was their turn for face painting.
We watched some of the United Freestyle Stunt Team Show--a couple of guys doing tricks and stunts on bikes. Pretty fun.
As we were watching the bike show, we saw this little train go by. It was empty, so we decided to follow it and see if they were giving rides. We were the second ones there, and the driver said to wait 5 minutes. We really were blessed with perfect timing all day.
Both Mike and I (and the other parents) were expecting the train to just go in circles in this little parking lot. We were all shocked when the driver just kept on going and disappeared around the corner. We had no idea the planned route or how long the ride was supposed to last. Mike and I laughed, hoped our kids were not screaming their heads off, and walked around for about 10 minutes. A nice break. And the kids were returned safe and happy.
Next stop was this shady pavilion for lunch of melons, cherries, banana bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, hummus, triscuits, and cheez sauce.
We had the girls take late naps in case we decided to watch fireworks that night. After naps, while I fixed dinner of beanburgers and corn on the cob, Mike played in the pool with the girls. Quite possibly the highlight of the day!
Fireworks of any kind are illegal in our city, so we headed over to our friends' house in a neighboring city to use their street. They were out of town and said go for it. Their street dead-ends to the city park, and we couldn't have asked (or paid) for a better location.
We were a little embarrassed when we realized the fireworks I bought at Sams' Club were not even fireworks, but confetti candles. We discovered this only after Mike tried to light a couple, and the "fuses" just burned out. They were the kind you just hold and pull the string, and a bunch of confetti flies out with a loud pop. Ha ha.
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| Eating ice-cream sandwiches and waiting for the show. |
Good thing we hadn't yet filled our bucket with water to douse all our fireworks!
Before we realized how dangerous confetti candles can be, we let Mariah do a few. She ended up getting a pretty good burn on her finger (which would not have happened at all with real fireworks because she would not have gone anywhere near them!) Thank goodness we had ice for our ice-cream sandwiches.
Throwing snap-pops.
Here are a couple videos Mike took of the show.
