Thursday, July 5, 2007

Fabulous Fourth

For the past couple of years we have gone to a golf club to see our fireworks. The first year it was good. The great things about it were: free parking, free to get in, lots of space so you aren't crammed together like a bunch of sardines, and a pretty decent fireworks show. The negative: bad parking situation, long walk lugging all your stuff and your kids, and last year the show was really inferior and it was really cold outside. (Yes, I know they can't help the temperature it just added to the discomfort factor.)

So, after having a less than great time last year Mike and I considered just skipping the whole fireworks thing this year. We decided on our walk yesterday morning that we would spend the day working on the yard, let the kids play with friends, then take them to a matinee movie. Maybe that would curb their desire to see fireworks. Besides, the night before our neighbor had a full fireworks show and they got to watch that. But when we presented our plan, they loved all of it except the missing fireworks.

We told them we would think about it. We revised the plan and included stopping for a picnic dinner at Walmart and parking in a parking lot somewhere near the fireworks and hanging out in the back of the van. They agreed to that.


So, we saw the movie got the picnic stuff and headed in the direction of the golf course. To our surprise, there was a new parking lot opened right next to the course and it was just about empty!! So we parked, jumped out, and plopped our stuff out on one of the little golf hills.


The weather was perfect about 75 degrees, the kids were in a great mood, and the fireworks were AWESOME!! Last year they had some kind of technical difficulty I think but this year they made up for it in a big way. It was definitely hands down the best fireworks show I have ever seen. Granted, I have never been to the big city and seen their fireworks I am sure they are spectacular, but for a free show in a suburb town it was great.

So, for an hour my family got to lay on a giant quilt together and OOOHHHH and AAAHHHH at giant lights in the sky. It was a great time.

Kristen

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We went to Central Christian. It was 118 degrees when we got there. So, the blessing was that we survived the walk from the parking lot where the wind off the blacktop was about 150. They had a comedian, a band and a big fireworks show. By 9:00 when the fireworks shot off it was only about 105, so it wasn't too bad. With all the dust I felt like I had just finished off a carton of cigarettes, but hey, it's only once a year. Good show.

Mandy Devine said...

Sounds like a great Fourth! We did the Chicago city fireworks a few years ago and it was incredible...came really close to Disney and you know that's great! It was so great to just put out our blankets by the lake, lay back and watch. Plus it was the Taste of Chicago, which made for a full day of fun. You guys ought to give it a try one year.

Bill Curley said...

Please see my comments at Mike's blog.