Friday, July 5, 2013

America's Birthday

 We were very excited for the 4th of July this year. We haven't been in Washington for the 4th since 2009 when we were engaged and in the Smith family the 4th of July is a big deal and lots of fun. I even went to the Goodwill and got Paige a cute 4th of July outfit because she doesn't have much red, white, and blue clothing. We weren't sure how Paige was going to handle all the loud noises because for a few days before the 4th we had some pop-its and she cried every time we got them out. 

A very cute little girl- the picture on the left shows what her face was like most of the day. :)
The kids loved the bikes and Paige loved to find ones that weren't being ridden and would just get on and off it.
While Paige took a nap and stayed home with Papa and Nona we went and bought fireworks at the Reservation. The Smith's like to go there because you can haggle on the prices and Nate and I got a bag full for $15 and Nate even let me do some haggling of my own which was fun and also kind of intimidating. 
 The fun starts off with drawing a big circle in the kilt-o-sac which is a line for the kids that they have to stay behind when someone is lighting a firework.
Then everyone adds their own artwork.
 The inner circle is where the fireworks are lit and this is where Aaron drew his work of art.
 Paige even joined in after a little while.
 They always start off with a ring of smoke bombs.
 There is also always a snake pit.
 We got some Roman candles to light off and there was all sorts of fireworks going off for quite a few hours.
 We enjoyed a great barbecue for dinner and we had enough dessert to fill a table and way more than any of us could ever eat. 
My contribution to the dessert table was an Australian meringue dessert called Pavlova (thanks Nathalie for the recipe) and also some patriotic cupcakes which the kids loved.
With all the delicious desserts to choose from, this little girl only wanted licorice. 
 There is also always a tank war which is quite big and there are many rounds of lighting.
 Paige was more cuddly and clingy than she has been her entire life and she liked to be with her Papa or me the entire time there was fireworks going on. There was quite a bit of tears at first so we got her blanket and binky for some comfort and she got a little more used to it towards the end.
 Then we all headed over to the lake to see the big firework show and Paige finally liked all the pretty lights because the sound wasn't quite as loud and as close. She pointed to all the lights and was oohing and awing.

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