During the recent Fourth of July weekend, I learned the following things: kids eat a lot of ice cream, firecrackers belong in the air, not on your foot, and I’m not a camper. Family started arriving the Saturday before the Fourth, and the fun started the moment they downed a couple of bottled waters and applied sunscreen.
Parish’s brother drove from Colorado with his wife and three kids. And Parish’s aunt from Denver flew in that evening. It was a full house! My other sister-in-law, who lives in Little Rock, was there with her son, and then you add me and Parish and his parents, and you have a party. Thankfully, his parent’s live out in the country so there was more than enough room for everyone.
The first day they were here, we ran through sprinklers and had an amazing fish fry complete with tomatoes from the garden (that I picked myself). That evening, the kids (ranging in age from 10 to 15) lit fireworks and laughed the night away. Parish and I slept on a blow up mattress in the Jacuzzi/exercise room. I guess I shouldn’t say slept, because I barely made it through the night. The mattress was comfortable, but I couldn’t get comfortable and I longed for my own bed all night. The morning came way too early, and I woke up on the wrong side of the mattress. Not wanting to ruin everyone’s day, I drank a glass of juice and went back to bed. Two hours later, I emerged, smiling and ready for a packed day with the fam.
Parish and I wanted to show everyone a good time and take them to Little Rock. Whenever anyone visits, I always take them to the BDB (Big Dam Bridge). My 10-year old niece enjoyed saying the middle part and not getting in trouble for it. In fact, I made her write a poem about the bridge, and she came up with a really funny one about how hot it was and why it’s a bummer to go there in the summer.
It was dreadfully hot when we arrived at the BDB. There was only one other car in the whole parking lot (on the Little Rock side), if that tells you anything – usually the place is packed. Nevertheless, we walked the bridge and everyone enjoyed the view. We also bribed them with the pool at our apartment.
Aunt Becky was also smart and bought popsicles the day before, so we ate those and swam at the pool for the rest of the day. That evening, our nieces and nephew spent the night. We ordered hot wings and fries and had ice cream for dessert. It was fun to see how excited they got about being able to drink soda, stay up late and eat bowlfuls of ice cream. The movie ended about midnight as heads were nodding – sleeping adolescents are a peaceful sight.
The next morning, Parish made breakfast and we loaded up the monster truck and headed to Center Ridge to celebrate the holiday. With over $200 in fireworks, you can only imagine what we did the rest of the day and night. I danced around with sparklers and lit bottle rockets and black cats until my eyes watered from the smoke.
Which brings me to my last lesson – Parish was lighting a Black Cat and accidently threw one at my foot. It happened so fast, I was unable to run away, and now I have a special little Fourth July memory.