Ka-Boom! Fun on the Fourth!

We love the 4th of July --

celebrating our country and our freedom is so special -- 

and  let's be truthful here . . . 

having an extra day off work is also very nice!  :)

We had blasted hot, hot, hot temps before the 4th,

but then rain and chilly weather in the days leading up to the 4th.

We were hopeful for clear and sunny skies, and finally the clouds moved out,

the humidity moved in and the

 temps soared!

Look at that camel  whispering in her ear!

Maddy and I went to the zoo in the morning when it was rather

unseasonably cool out and NO crowds at all!  Sweet!!

After the skies finally cleared off, we headed to the pool 

for noodle races, ice cream sandwiches and 

the lovely smell of sunscreen!!

However, the chilly days prior along with a lot of

rain made the water temp icy cold! 

Brrrr!

Love the shades, but they are hard to see clearly through!

Then it was time to hit the fireworks stands!

Although I've been buying fireworks for what seems to be a million years,

I always forget which ones are the faves.

I neglected to get any artillery shells (really, I don't like to light those),

but smoke balls, sparkling balls and some screaming bees and sparklers

all made their way into our bags.

Guess I have toned the fireworks way down

since the boys were young and every single year, we had a

fireworks-related "incident!"   

Not kidding here -- one time, a lighted firework fell over and ignited 

a bag of other explosives - burning a hole in our patio umbrella

and a burn mark on the patio table! 

Luckily for us, some neighbors had a quite a show

of artillery shells and we could see the

Country Club's fireworks from our driveway!

All in all, it was a fun and safe 4th -- just the way I like it!

KA-BOOM!