Our Fun-Filled 4th of July Celebration

The 4th of July has been one of my favorite holidays for years. It never used to be that way, but my husband and his family converted me! Now I love it, and we are passing on all of our favorite 4th of July traditions to our kids!

This year, the 4th of July was almost perfect. We spent the day with family and friends, from start to finish. We kicked it off with the town parade, spent the afternoon and evening at a pool party/picnic with friends, watched fireworks with friends and family, then headed back to a friend's house to continue the fun! 

The only thing missing was Dylan. Having older teenagers is tough, but we eventually learned to compromise. Some holidays and events are non-negotiable, but we do understand that some things are more fun with friends. He just wanted to go to the parade and the fireworks with his best friends. We missed him, but talked to him at the end of the day! But other than that little downer, we had a great day!

Our 4th of July celebration started at the town parade. Grant and I have been a couple since we were teenagers, so we have been going to this parade - or driving his former mayor dad in the parade - for 21 years. It’s one of our favorite 4th of July traditions, because it’s like a mini reunion every year!

We sat near my nephew and his family, who moved back home from Florida, saw favorite teachers and friends, and saw our flower girls for the first time in years - one of them is married and has a new baby! As for Grant's 96 year old Nannie, she thinks this was her last 4th of July parade, but Grant insisted he is going to toss her over his shoulder and carry her down next year.

As usual, Liam did great until the fire trucks passed by. He loves them from a distance, but up close, the sirens hurt his ears. Grant carried away for a few minutes, and Liam rejoined us after they were gone. He loved the beads he got in the parade! Coen enjoyed the parade, but watched it very seriously. By the end, he had a lei around his neck, and held candy in each fist. The girls were just thrilled to be there, and I loved watching my kids enjoy the parade with their family and friends!

After the parade, we headed to a pool party with our friends. Years ago, Grant's family used to host a big picnic each year, but that tradition stopped a while back, and the pool party tradition took over. After last year's very quiet 4th, it was so great to get back to this tradition!

It was a hot day, and everyone was in the pool for hours. The kids swam for 7+ hours, only stopping briefly to eat. Liam and Coen LOVED swimming, and Coen was surprisingly brave, considering he hasn't spent too much time in a pool. He jumped off the diving board repeatedly, with no fear, but was not a big fan of the slide! He swam so much that he eventually fell asleep on top of me as I floated in a pool float...it was the best! Thanks to swim lessons, Liam swapped his puddle jumper for simple arm floaties, and did great with less support. He will be swimming independently in no time!

We all agreed that it was a fantastic afternoon and evening. Good friends, good food, and lots of good memories made. Everyone was just HAPPY, and it felt amazing! It was almost disappointing seeing the fun come to an end, but hopefully, we can do this again next year!

We left the pool at dusk, and headed straight to our usual spot for fireworks. We have been watching the town fireworks from the cemetery since Grant's dad, as mayor, brought 4th of July fireworks back to the town. He loved fireworks so much that he requested a fireworks display at his funeral. He is now buried in that cemetery. Even though it's a popular spot to watch the fireworks, we go there for sentimental reasons.

This year, the fireworks display started earlier than it usually does. We arrived in time, but we were still settling into our spots when they started going off. That was a bit of a surprise! Because they started so abruptly, we weren't quite all together to watch the fireworks. Liam was in the car with Grant's mom and Nannie, Grant and Lexie were sitting beside Grant's dad's grave, and I was with Coen and Lily, sitting with our friends.

I passed out glow sticks to all the kids, then sat down with Coen to watch the fireworks. I wish we were all able to sit together, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed watching Coen watch the fireworks - perhaps more so than I enjoyed watching the actual fireworks. He was simply mesmerized, and kept talking about them! As usual, they ended too soon, but we still had more fun ahead of us!

After fireworks, the plan was to go to our friend's house. We had to wait in some traffic, and even though their house was only about 1/2 mile away, it took some time to get there! As we pulled into the entrance of their housing development, smoke filled the air. Grant noticed that there was a brush fire that was spreading, so he pulled over the car, and ran to attempt to put it out. As the people at the house where fireworks were being set off laughed hysterically as they watched it spread, Grant and another man worked to put it out. Seriously - this is exactly why alcohol and fireworks don't mix!

We had to take several detours through their development, because there were fireworks going off in the middle of the streets in every direction, but we eventually made it! We had some snacks, watched a movie, and then set off a few very small fireworks at the dead end of the street, and let the older kids do sparklers.

By that time, it was nearly midnight, and the kids were exhausted from 11+ hours of outdoor fun. Some of our friends were staying longer, but it was time to take our crew home. We said our goodbyes, drove the short distance home, then unloaded our kids and our ridiculous amount of gear from my SUV. I put everything away while the girls headed straight to bed, but somehow, the boys were still going strong. Grant and I sat down with them for a few minutes to relax, and that made them realize they were tired! We got them to bed, then headed to bed ourselves, happily exhausted from a great day!

After our pandemic holiday last year, this year was extra special! Family traditions are so important, and I’m so glad we filled our day with our 4th of July favorites. We all had a great day!