We had a pretty full 4th of July today, and it started out with an unexpected opening that we heard about first last night.
The pool is back open again. The pandemic has been the reason for the shutdown of the pool, and the tennis courts too, for some odd reason. I think there's a fear of contact with the fence with the tennis court? Or perhaps maybe people getting too close to one another while playing tennis? Regardless, there's been quite the debate in the community. And after quite a few attempts to figure things out, late last night the online reservation system went up, and we sort of pounced on it. Madison and I were at the pool, pretty much the first ones in the pool from the neighborhood (outside of the organizers of this). The water was perfect in temperature, although Madison thought it was a little cool. Regardless, it was wonderful to be in the pool again. There is only a certain amount of people allowed at a time within the pool, and this time slot we were in was there for two hours. So we had a limited amount of people in there for two hours with us, and everyone was grateful. We couldn't use the furniture there, but we don't sit at the pool too much - we generally swim at the pool. Anyway, it was a great start to the day, the two of us swimming and playing "Yes and No," and doing a few laps, and just cooling off.
Afterwards, we came back to a feast! Mommy had cooked up some great traditional 4th of July food items - corn on the cob, macaroni salad, potato salad, and more. I went out on the deck and grilled some burgers and hot dogs, and we sat down to enjoy a really nice meal together. And we finished it off with red, white and blue bomb pops!
We're helping plan a small 50th anniversary party for Ye-Ye and Nana, so we drove down to Buford after this, delivering about 100 pictures and a printed letter as well. Aunt Shain is working on the party somewhat today and tomorrow morning - we'll be gathering together then for some fun again in Buford.
Getting home, we did a bit more yard work. We got more mulch down in the back yard around some flower beds, and there was a lot of watering to be done with some freshly planted vegetables and new plants along the side. There's a lot of development going on with the property, and it's slowly but surely turning into something really nice.
After a quick rinse off in the shower, and after Madison had time for a bath, it was time for the yearly tradition: fireworks in the neighborhood!
We had a bunch of sparklers in the basement that we were giving away to the kids and our neighbors too. Madison and Mommy posed for this nice picture before the festivities begun tonight, waving around their sparklers. Everyone was wearing their patriotic colors, and flags were waving with patriotic bunting hanging from porches and balconies. So many American flags in our neighborhood this time of year - it's wonderful to see.
I took this nice portrait of the family across the street. But the kids were running around the yard quite a lot with these sparklers, and sometimes just running around because... well, kids! But soon our other neighbor Paul brought out his arsenal of fireworks for our cul-de-sac, and it was spectacular.
Just the other day, he invited Madison into the garage to see the line-up, and he promised he'd have a great show for us tonight. He didn't disappoint!
The families lined up on a sidewalk there at one house, and we just looked upwards for a while, enjoying the spectacle in the skies.
Madison was enjoying it as well, using her phone to take a lot of pictures, or occasionally waving around a sparkler for fun.
All the kids had sparklers, twirling them around as the last sunlight set, and large full moon rose over the horizon. Tonight there'd be a partial lunar eclipse, all on top of things. But the skies were filled with a colorful sort of entertainment tonight, and there was so much to see.
Once the nearby show was done, Madison and I went over to another part of our subdivision where there were even more fireworks, some of them massive and thunderous!
We were right there in the line of fire, actually, with pieces of debris raining down on us! Madison spent a good deal of time recording these huge explosions, and I was snapping a lot of pictures as well, which you can tell from this blog post.
Usually, Madison tells me when she's ready to get home, and it was getting a little late. But she just wanted to stay until it was all done. And there was so much to see - these fireworks were massive, and so close to us.
Madison just sat on the curb and watched one after the other launched upward, as all the neighbors cheered with each colorful burst. I doubt anyone got to sleep early in this part of the neighborhood!
One of our friends came by on a bicycle, telling a story of some close calls with fireworks, and we saw a few tonight. We saw one of these burst on the ground, the guy who lit it already running away so he was safe - but wow. There was another close call earlier on, where another firework exploded right there in the middle of the street, rather than launching upward first. Both of these were reminders about how once the thing is lit, you'd better get out of there!
But in the end, no one was hurt of course. We just sat there and enjoyed one colorful and loud explosion after another, and Madison just wasn't ready to go until the very last one was launched.
We had a great day today, and it was so awesome to have neighbors like this with such a show. We used to drive somewhere else to see this kind of firepower. But it's all right here in our neighborhood, and that's just amazing.
We certainly had a display of Illuminations tonight. John Adams would be proud!
Things seemed to be winding down, and so we made the walk through the neighborhood back to our home. We have a shield of trees behind our house, but you could still see over the treetops the occasional blast of colorful light.
You can hear it even better. The sound of the Fourth of July is unlike anything else, with perpetual explosions and thunder rolling across the land. You're inside, and you just hear it going on outside, along with laughter and sounds of joy. There are the small pops, the larger cracks of thunder, and the huge roar of something that sounds like cannon fire. All of it blended together for one night of celebration.
We got to bed late tonight, but it was a wonderful evening, a glorious day together. We read, we prayed, and soon... we slept...
The pool is back open again. The pandemic has been the reason for the shutdown of the pool, and the tennis courts too, for some odd reason. I think there's a fear of contact with the fence with the tennis court? Or perhaps maybe people getting too close to one another while playing tennis? Regardless, there's been quite the debate in the community. And after quite a few attempts to figure things out, late last night the online reservation system went up, and we sort of pounced on it. Madison and I were at the pool, pretty much the first ones in the pool from the neighborhood (outside of the organizers of this). The water was perfect in temperature, although Madison thought it was a little cool. Regardless, it was wonderful to be in the pool again. There is only a certain amount of people allowed at a time within the pool, and this time slot we were in was there for two hours. So we had a limited amount of people in there for two hours with us, and everyone was grateful. We couldn't use the furniture there, but we don't sit at the pool too much - we generally swim at the pool. Anyway, it was a great start to the day, the two of us swimming and playing "Yes and No," and doing a few laps, and just cooling off.
Afterwards, we came back to a feast! Mommy had cooked up some great traditional 4th of July food items - corn on the cob, macaroni salad, potato salad, and more. I went out on the deck and grilled some burgers and hot dogs, and we sat down to enjoy a really nice meal together. And we finished it off with red, white and blue bomb pops!
We're helping plan a small 50th anniversary party for Ye-Ye and Nana, so we drove down to Buford after this, delivering about 100 pictures and a printed letter as well. Aunt Shain is working on the party somewhat today and tomorrow morning - we'll be gathering together then for some fun again in Buford.
Getting home, we did a bit more yard work. We got more mulch down in the back yard around some flower beds, and there was a lot of watering to be done with some freshly planted vegetables and new plants along the side. There's a lot of development going on with the property, and it's slowly but surely turning into something really nice.
After a quick rinse off in the shower, and after Madison had time for a bath, it was time for the yearly tradition: fireworks in the neighborhood!
We had a bunch of sparklers in the basement that we were giving away to the kids and our neighbors too. Madison and Mommy posed for this nice picture before the festivities begun tonight, waving around their sparklers. Everyone was wearing their patriotic colors, and flags were waving with patriotic bunting hanging from porches and balconies. So many American flags in our neighborhood this time of year - it's wonderful to see.
I took this nice portrait of the family across the street. But the kids were running around the yard quite a lot with these sparklers, and sometimes just running around because... well, kids! But soon our other neighbor Paul brought out his arsenal of fireworks for our cul-de-sac, and it was spectacular.
Just the other day, he invited Madison into the garage to see the line-up, and he promised he'd have a great show for us tonight. He didn't disappoint!
The families lined up on a sidewalk there at one house, and we just looked upwards for a while, enjoying the spectacle in the skies.
Madison was enjoying it as well, using her phone to take a lot of pictures, or occasionally waving around a sparkler for fun.
All the kids had sparklers, twirling them around as the last sunlight set, and large full moon rose over the horizon. Tonight there'd be a partial lunar eclipse, all on top of things. But the skies were filled with a colorful sort of entertainment tonight, and there was so much to see.
Once the nearby show was done, Madison and I went over to another part of our subdivision where there were even more fireworks, some of them massive and thunderous!
We were right there in the line of fire, actually, with pieces of debris raining down on us! Madison spent a good deal of time recording these huge explosions, and I was snapping a lot of pictures as well, which you can tell from this blog post.
Usually, Madison tells me when she's ready to get home, and it was getting a little late. But she just wanted to stay until it was all done. And there was so much to see - these fireworks were massive, and so close to us.
Madison just sat on the curb and watched one after the other launched upward, as all the neighbors cheered with each colorful burst. I doubt anyone got to sleep early in this part of the neighborhood!
One of our friends came by on a bicycle, telling a story of some close calls with fireworks, and we saw a few tonight. We saw one of these burst on the ground, the guy who lit it already running away so he was safe - but wow. There was another close call earlier on, where another firework exploded right there in the middle of the street, rather than launching upward first. Both of these were reminders about how once the thing is lit, you'd better get out of there!
But in the end, no one was hurt of course. We just sat there and enjoyed one colorful and loud explosion after another, and Madison just wasn't ready to go until the very last one was launched.
We had a great day today, and it was so awesome to have neighbors like this with such a show. We used to drive somewhere else to see this kind of firepower. But it's all right here in our neighborhood, and that's just amazing.
John Adams wrote, “I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary Festival…It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games, Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other from this Time forward forever more.”
We certainly had a display of Illuminations tonight. John Adams would be proud!
Things seemed to be winding down, and so we made the walk through the neighborhood back to our home. We have a shield of trees behind our house, but you could still see over the treetops the occasional blast of colorful light.
You can hear it even better. The sound of the Fourth of July is unlike anything else, with perpetual explosions and thunder rolling across the land. You're inside, and you just hear it going on outside, along with laughter and sounds of joy. There are the small pops, the larger cracks of thunder, and the huge roar of something that sounds like cannon fire. All of it blended together for one night of celebration.
We got to bed late tonight, but it was a wonderful evening, a glorious day together. We read, we prayed, and soon... we slept...
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