Whens My Vacation?: 4th of July Night

So after the very boring day...

OK maybe I should explain why it was so boring. If you read my post below you will see that we did nothing for the "day" on the 4TH. Maybe this is normal for some people. Not for me. I have great memories of Independence Day when I was growing up. My dad was in the military for most of my life, so we spent many July 4Th's on military posts/bases. We always breakfasts (either at church or with my dad's work) followed by a parade and then a huge BBQ. We would then go swimming in the afternoon, or on a hike, or to a park. Then in the evening there was always a huge firework celebration. I LOVED the 4TH when I was young.

So now you can see why I thought Lewis laying around doing nothing (while I read my book), and the kids being bored out of their minds! was not a very fun way to spend a day.

... we did have plans for the night. Our friends Holly & Kyle and Connie & Tim invited the whole family out to a pig roast. Yes! We got there about 6:30pm. They live out near The Ranches. (And by the way, if you have not been out there recently it has changed. There is a gas station, stores, and restaurants. It is no longer in the middle of nowhere.) We thought that it would be big fun since I managed to cancel on them last year for the roast. (I got a bad sunburn and we were unable to attend.) When we got to Holly's we hung out for a while, took a tour of their house, and then headed next door to the party. Let me just tell you the backyard was to die for. Basketball court, volleyball court, Koi pond (with maybe 20 fish, including babies), playground, trampoline, playhouse and another acre or so of grass to spread out on and play.

The dinner was freshly pulled pork, lamb, all kinds of potato dishes, pasta salads, fruit and veggie trays, chips, cookies, watermelon, cupcakes, jell-o, and brownies. The kids were in heaven. I stopped counting after Adam had his 4Th dessert.

After dinner the kids played basketball with Lewis, bounced on the tramp, and played with the other kids that were there for a couple of hours. There was line dancing too...well 5 of us did the dancing.

When it stated to get dark we cleared the tables and food and set up to watch the movie. Oh! Did I forget to mention that they had an outdoor theater screen attached to the back of their house? Yeah, they did. So we got out blankets and chairs, candy and popcorn too, and got set to watch Independence Day with Will Smith. Before the movie they had a clip of fireworks, short cartoon films (the golfing bear, and the birds for those of you who know what they are), and some patriotic videos set to song. (No real fireworks because of the wind and the lack of water.) By the time the movie was 1/3 of the way in it was 12:30am and Abigail was asleep. Adam and Haley were almost asleep too, but Jason just could not get comfy and he was grumpy so we decided to go home. Overall we had a great time. Thanks to our friends for inviting us out!