4th of July fun in the sun

This was a great 4th of July. The weather was warm, but not scorching – and it didn’t rain this year! Funnily enough, it rained last year in So Cal. We went out to Redlands to hang with Andy’s family.

The cousins have a trampoline with the net around it, in an attempt to avoid kids discovering that you come down at an equal and opposite angle from which you jumped, and it may not be on the trampoline. Alex somehow managed to fall out on his head last time, so this time he was very diligent about making sure the entrance was zipped closed. At least that was the lesson learned!

So we started the day late, went to the festival over in the park, where there was a live band, face painting, food of every kind and activities for all. There’s nothing like a small town for a 4th of July celebration. Half the town is in the parade, including the fire department and police department, although a couple of years ago, they got a call halfway through the parade and had to go – some guy managed to set his BBQ on fire.

Alex asked the band director is he was “Santa Claus on vacation.” The old man said, “No, why?” Alex responded, “Because you so fat.”

Sigh, I had him try again, explaining that we don’t tell people they’re fat, it’s rude. He has trouble understanding why telling the truth, even when it’s not socially appropriate, is wrong. After all, we teach him to always tell the truth. I guess we still have a little ways to go on that one!

They had a 30-foot rock climbing wall, which we paid a small fortune for all the kids to try. Alex was the only one that had never tried it before, so I didn’t put him on the “money wall” where you win a jackpot if you reach the top. Shoulda. He had the entire crowd chanting his name as he climbed that wall like a spider monkey in under 3 minutes, and when he got down, he wanted to know where his prize was – so we ended up paying him off, the little mercenary! He earned it, though.

The University of Redlands has a huge fireworks show in their football stadium, complete with a B-17 bomber doing a low flyby and stunt skydivers. We, however, sat in my sister-in-law’s front yard a block away with most of the neighborhood, for the free show. It was 45 minutes of the kids singing every patriotic song they know, and they know a lot of them. I have to say, it was awesome!! And the grand finale is so bright and loud, every car alarm for six blocks goes off – and the street lights go off, as is the sun came up. Then we tried to beat the traffic to get the kids to bed – after all, 5 hours of jumping on a trampoline can make you tired. Andy and I got suckered in for about ½ hour, and I was exhausted and had to pee. Ah, to have half the energy of our kids!

We’ve learned over the last few 4th of July’s that the kids don’t usually like the loud noises or being crowded by too many people. So, we stick to what they do like. We go to the free stuff, so I don’t feel like we have to stay, if I dropped $200 to go. I let them each pick out one bad food to have. After all, what’s the point of celebrating if you don’t get a treat? Doing something during the day that’s rigorous physical activity is essential. There’s too much going on – and they have to have something to do.

They get a second wind for the fireworks, then pass out almost immediately after. That means we have to carry them to bed, but just about every parent is doing that. The beach or a pool party is another good one for them – lots of swimming and fun in the sun! But that’s next year…