The 4th of July has turned out to be one of my very favorite holidays. It could be because it gives us a bit of reprieve from the insane desert heat of summer by giving us justification for getting in our swimming suits in the early morning hours and not getting out of them until evening. It's a day of water here in Boulder City. Water, water, water.
It starts with the Boulder City parade where we all wait patiently, watching the first floats go by following the 'Non Water Entries' banner. We cheer for the mayor and the local businesses, we clap for the horses Rotary Club Members and cheerleaders, and then a gap in the procession and a glimpse of the 'Water Entries' banner causes the crowds to go wild, pick up their water guns and explode into a town-wide water fight. We spray each other, we spray the parade entries, we spray the sky and the trees and the streets... we laugh and drip and go back for more.
Most of us anyway.
Some of us hide far away from the intensity of the action. And some of us cry when the stream of water is a little colder than we were expecting.
But it's impossible to cry for long because it's just so dang fun.
After the parade this year (and last year) we went to the Larsons to play in their big pool.
Kyle had bought a big floating mat and in an effort to make it a bit safer, tied it in a way that it would stay far from the edges of the pool. Because he knew that the kids would want to stand on it.
And push people off of it.
Which they did.
Most of them, anyway.
Carson and his little broken foot were great sports about the whole thing. I let him take off his boot and float around in the water with his friends, and he was grateful for that (I was a bit of a nervous wreck about it though because I knew one little jolt to that foot could displace the broken bones and mean surgery. But he knew that, too, so I decided to trust him). But it was hard for him to watch the fun and not be able to participate fully.
After the BBQ and pool party at the Larsons we went to the Calverts to eat dinner.
As always, the soda was the favorite part for my kids.
And then we were off on our way to watch the Boulder City fireworks on the golf course close to their house. We packed little Liza in her stroller and I couldn't help but grin at her for a few minutes before strolling her along her way.
She's just so easy to please. Which pleases me.
Once we got to the golf course we spent a ridiculous amount of time setting up our chairs and blankets, packing up our chairs and blankets, moving down the fairway a bit, setting up our chairs and blankets, packing up our chairs and blankets, moving across the hill a bit, setting up our chairs and blankets... you get the idea. We moved four different times because we kept placing ourselves right in line with the next set of monstrous golf course sprinklers.
The kids didn't seem to care one little bit.
All except for Carson, that is. It was a little more difficult for him to maneuver around on his crutches, and by the end of the night he was sore and ready to be done moving for the day. Eventually the sun set all the way and we pulled out the sparklers.
And shortly after that, the Boulder City fireworks started. Which really are some of the best fireworks I've seen. There were unique ones that I'd never seen before, and I caught myself exclaiming out loud over and over at the beauty of them.
How delightful it is to live in Boulder City on the 4th of July.
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