Taking the Scenic Route

  Fourth Of July out at the farm

The weather gave us about as perfect of a July 4th as I remember.  The ground was wet, so we didn’t have to worry about fires, and there was only a whisper of a breeze. 

We got to my folk’s place late afternoon.  Zane immediately found the sprinkler and occupied himself running under the water while the burgers and brats where being cooked.  After supper, Zach went inside and took a much needed nap, while the rest of us sat on the back deck.  Steve and Joy brought a bunch of fireworks and we spent the early evening watching them shoot them off.  Zane really enjoyed the fireworks.  He had a hard time remembering to stay at a safe distance while they were being lit and we had a lot of prolonged starts as we waited for him to sit back down.

The Roman candles sort of made my heart stop for a second because I am sincerely hoping Zane will not imitate his aunt in the future.  It drives me nuts to see people holding explosive devices in their hands…just one of my things.  Zane sure liked it though.

Roman Candle

One of Zane’s favorite fireworks was what we called the ‘Viagra house’.  lol.  It was a little house type thing that spun around for a while, and when it was done spinning, another 4 stories of the house popped out the top.  He ended up bringing two of them home with us.  It was pretty funny. 

His other favorite was the parachute fireworks.  They had a bunch of small ones and a few big ones.  Steve showed him how to ‘fly’ the parachute by throwing it and watching it land, or running with it behind like a kite.  Zane carried his parachutes around for quite a while.  He was very  excited about them.

Parachute instruction

Zane even carried the parachute with him as he followed Shelby, the black lab, in a game of fetch.  He was giggling as he ran with the dog.  One of the funnier moments was when Shelby was momentarily distracted after throwing the stick, but Zane ran after the stick and brought it back.  Although Zane did not bring it and drop it at their feet.  lol. 

Fetch

Dad charged the batteries up for the RC Hummer since Steve & Joy were coming out.  Zane tried the remote for a bit, but really didn’t quite get it yet (it is meant for 8 years old and older, if I remember right).  When Steve got the remote, the first thing he aimed for was the spent firework containers sticking up all over the place.  He plowed through them, knocking them over.  At that point Zane ran over to them and gathered all the fallen fireworks into his arms.  After a few rounds of this, he couldn’t hold any more fireworks and started getting upset, so I grabbed a box.  He picked up pretty much all of the fireworks so the Hummer couldn’t crash into them. lol.

Manning the remote

Fireworks rescue mission

Holding his Fireworks, watching where Joy drives the Hummer

Mom and Dad had a cheap little golf set they got for Zane.  It was especially funny watching Steve use golf clubs sized for a toddler/preschooler.  He was so good with Zane…always watching really carefully where he was at and just being great with him. 

Mini Golf

Returning from one last mud puddle

When it got dark, we went over to the city park, just outside of town, to watch the fireworks.  It is a lot less ’spectacular’ than the big city fireworks, but it compensates by being so pleasant.  It also isn’t as overwhelming to little people.  Zane was actually able to snuggle in my lap and relax during the show instead of getting all overwhelmed and upset. 

Everybody is spread out in their vehicles.  Either you have lawn chairs set up, or just have everybody watching from the bed of the pick-up trucks…small town life at it’s best.  I know they usually sell ice cream and such, but we came just 10 minutes before they started, so we didn’t get any this year.  One change that they implemented this year, which made is SO much nicer with a small child:  no setting off fireworks in the park.  I have seen many a near-miss over the years and it was nice to be able to totally relax and enjoy the big show.