Every Day's A Blessing: A Very Happy Fourth

Today is the Fourth of July - Independence Day. Our day was destined to be great from the start, because we welcomed some very special visitors: Ben's parents and grandmother, Nonnie, Pappy, and Great-Grandma to the girls, came to visit us from Texas. The girls have been beyond excited for their visit (as have Ben and I - we just don't express ourselves quite like the kids do). We spent a few hours letting our guests stretch out after a long plane ride before heading outside for some good ol' July 4th fun.

My neighbor and I had been talking for the last week or so about having a little block party on our street to celebrate the Fourth. Let people eat, let the kids run around and play, and have a few sparklers and fountains to cap off the night. Several of the fireworks shows in our area were cancelled due to budget cuts, so I didn't really want to try to fight all of the crowds cramming themselves into the few shows that were left.

I couldn't imagine the evening could have been any better. The kids ran around SO much and played together (I have no idea how they didn't collapse from exhaustion). We set everything up in our driveway because it was already shaded, so while it was still hot it was pretty comfortable. Each kid got to do at least five or six sparklers as the sun started to set. Then Ben and our neighbor Darren impressed everyone with their fountain fireworks. There were none of the big (read: illegal) fireworks at our event, but none of the kids cared. They all sat and watched in awe of what there was. Everyone had a great time. I am blessed to have a wonderful and fun family, to live on such a fantastic street, and to be an American.