Happy Birthday, America!

Tags

apple pie, family, fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, sparklers

We generally celebrate Independence Day in a big way around our house, with lots of friends, food, and fireworks.  This year we were a bit light in the friend department, but the day was still wonderful.

We finally decided on a menu late in the afternoon — I shopped, Georgia cooked, and we all ate until we could eat no more.  Roasted chicken, twice-baked potatoes, garlic bread, pasta salad made with home-grown cherry tomatoes, baked beans…it was all absolutely delicious!

At dusk we headed out to the street with our sparklers and fireworks…the first time in many years that we didn’t pool our resources with the neighbors.  After Lily overcame her fears of being afraid (she hates loud noises and totally freaks herself out in advance), the girls and Georgia started with the sparklers.  (This Grammy is a big fraidy-cat about sparklers, having visions of burns and poked out eyes.  But I kept my trepidation to myself and watched them play with their mom.)

The show began with sparklers at dusk.

Neighbors on the street to the west of us were launching wonderful (and illegal) displays into the sky above the trees…lots of fun for us, too.  Our fireworks were great fun; we kept them legal and on the ground.  (I had soaked the dry front yard earlier in the day, even though it was not our officially sanctioned watering day.)

Georgia and her camera made a perfect silhouette against the last of the fireworks.

As the girls finished their final sparklers, their friends a couple of houses to the north of us started their own, so we sat down and watched them set off their fireworks.

The grand finale found Georgia and both girls dancing with their sparklers.

Then it was time for apple pie all around.  Happy Birthday, America!