I realize it is now way past the actual holiday, but I still need to tell you what we did! In years' past, we have celebrated the Fourth of July at home with just our family, and the missionaries. We do this because it isn't actually a holiday here, (duh) and I have a thing about celebrating holidays ON the holiday. We have also attended various BBQ's thrown by friends, but they were always on the Saturday before or after the Fourth, so we didn't consider them celebrating the holiday. This year, however, the Fourth was on a Friday, and there are tons of American families in our ward now. So we decided to get together at a local park and celebrate in the evening.
When I told Chris this, he was less than thrilled. You know, him and big groups just aren't a good mix. Plus, unbeknownst to me, he had actually grown fond of our little private celebration. So, to keep everyone happy, we had two celebrations! Chris came home early from work, and we grilled burgers on our new grill. I made potato salad, we had chips, and our traditional flag cake. I didn't put all the star confetti on the table as I had in years past, as that was one part of the celebration Chris could live without, but he does enjoy a good homemade hamburger.
That evening, the kids and I headed over to the park without Chris. I brought just a couple sausages for the kids, and a big bowl of shish kebab fixings for the missionaries. Nick also tried one and liked it. Since we aren't used to eating a heavy meal at night, the kids mostly ate vegetables, more potato chips, and lots of nummy desserts. Sophie actually ate so many, she couldn't finish her last one and handed it to me with a slightly green tint to her face. :) The kids had a great time playing, and they even got their faces painted by Jenna. Sarah and Noah got little flags, and Sophie got huge stars. Of course, the camera was left in the car, so you'll have to use your imagination for this one. But I promise, we had a great time and the decorations were fabulous!
There were even sparklers and little firecrackers for the kids to use. Sarah burnt her finger because she dropped her burnt out sparkler on the ground, then picked it back up by the still hot end. Ow! We put an ice cube on it, and some peppermint oil, then left a little early so she could get some aloe vera on it and a band aid. When I say early, it wasn't really early, we got home at nine, but the rest of the crowd was still going strong, so it felt like we were taking off too soon. The next day, her finger felt fine, although I told her to leave the band aid on to protect it while she was in the forest for the Primary activity day. All in all, it was a very nice holiday, although a tad busy, and I hope we can do it again next year.