Mommy, I Love Fireworks!

Yay, fireworks!

The show lasted 20 minutes, but the memories will last a lifetime. This was the first year Sam has actually been awake for the fireworks our neighbors shoot off in the backyard during their annual family party, but he'd been excited about it all day. He talked about it while we were in the pool and while we were eating burgers and while he and Ham were running around the yard shooting each other with water blasters. He shivered with excitement when I told him that he had to get out of the pool and dry off before the show started. He told me "this is a good spot" as he pulled his little blue adirondack up next to me on the porch when the first warning shot of the evening went off. And from the very first light explosion, Sammy was riveted. Wow! Whoa! Wow! That was a big one! That was a loud one! That one went really super high! Eva slept through the entire show, and I even went to make sure she was still breathing because I didn't think anyone could sleep through the mortar rounds just 50 yards from our house. But she'd had a long day in the heat, and she, like her big brother during previous years, was nearly comatose throughout the entire evening. When I attempted to put Sam to bed at 11pm (with friends still sitting in lawn chairs surrounding citronella candles and whipping glow sticks into circles), he laid down next to me and said "Mommy, I love fireworks!" He wanted to know if we could have them at his birthday party and why he had to go to bed when everyone else was staying up. So up he got, and I let him snack on cheese and chips and popsicles and show off his dinosaur toys and his Paper Jam guitar to the big boys in the kitchen until the last guests left around midnight. An evening I'll never forget.

Waiting for our friends to arrive

Cooling off in the pool

Eva rests in the shade

Stella's turn

Ham grabs dinner before the show


Ready for fireworks


One last dip in the pool before the show


Sam shares glow sticks after the show

Sarah and James enjoying their night out

Here are some brief snapshots of Sammy watching his first fireworks show up close.