Good and Not-So-Good

I've had some good and some not-so-good Fourth of Julys. Julies? July's? Independence Days.

Some (but certainly not all) of the good include:

• The first Fourth I actually remember was on the side of a small, grassy hill with our friends the Silcoxes, in Raleigh, NC. There were a few duds and loud bangs and I couldn't figure out why I could hear them but not see those fireworks. My dad told me they were black fireworks, and since it was night we couldn't see them. It was years before I realized the truth.
  
• Sitting on the side of a cliff overlooking Lake Powell. There were hundreds of boats with twinkling lights on the water, and the fireworks were shot just over the lake, making colorful reflections. It was impressive even to a grouchy, severely sunburned 13-year-old girl. (And that's saying something!)
• Sitting on the tarmac at the air force base in Fairfield, CA, with my parents and two little brothers. We ate Oreos, drank root beer, and enjoyed being together. Plus, it's cool to be on a tarmac.
• At a SF Giant's baseball game. Sure, we were in our winter woolies and shivering under heavy blankets (the bay makes SF cold in the summer), but the fireworks in the fog were actually pretty (eerily) cool.
• Watching Stadium of Fire from Squaw Peak with Lance the summer we were engaged. No - we weren't there for stereotypical Squaw Peak activities (*smooch*smooch*); we actually wanted to watch the fireworks. But we did watch this 40+ year old guy trying to put the moves on his date, and succeeding, which was just about as entertaining as the fireworks display.

The not-so-good include:

• The summer before my senior year of high school. I had just started what promised to be a lucrative career as a minion of our local Blockbuster Video, and as one of the lowest on the totem pole I was forced to work the night of 4th of July. We were getting close to closing when my boss asked me to go outside and wash down some of the windows. I could hear the fireworks from the air force base and knew that my family was out there watching them. Without me. *tear in eye* Let me tell you, it was one of the more depressing "growing-up-is-not-that-great" experiences of my life.
• There was one summer when my mom was sick and (I think) having chemo. I can't remember if she was home or in the hospital, but going to the fireworks show wasn't really an option. On top of that, they had stopped having fireworks at the air force base and instead had them in Suisun (a neighboring city right next to Fairfield). I was pretty angry and depressed about this, life, the universe, and everything. I spent the evening with my boyfriend and we ended up watching the fireworks from the top of his back yard fence. I don't think we could even hear them. Lame.

Well, yesterday started out with the possibility of being a not-so-good. It rained. All day. And it was actually chilly, only reaching the very low 70's. Seriously, it felt more like the 4th of April, not July. I'm a pretty big fireworks enthusiast, but not in the rain. With a newborn. And two tired little boys.

Fortunately, our wonderful friends the Souths saved the day! We had invited them over for a barbecue, and not only did they bring a yummy dessert (the brownies were good, Misty!), but they also brought some fireworks!

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit I've always been against having fireworks at home. Really against. Because all you ever hear about the day after the Fourth is all the home firework-induced burns and deaths and whatnot. And I wanted nothing to do with that. But now I am coming to grips with the fact that I am a severely outnumbered female in a testosterone-laden home, and we're gonna have probably have fireworks whether I want them or not. Because all little boys are pyros. And all men used to be little boy pyros. That's just the way it is.


Anywho, my boys were in heaven. (Even though Josh claimed to be scared, I know he loved it.) And having the fireworks at home meant we didn't have to schlepp them out to the city fireworks display.

I suspect this will become a new Madsen family tradition.

Guido's 'Trunk of Fire'! (Just kidding, Paul.)

Cole stayed snug in the sling. True to form, he fell asleep and grunted little "I'm trying to sleep here, people!" grunts when things got loud.

The boys liked choosing which firework to set off next.

Lance liked reading the descriptions on the boxes. Our favorite was "Crackling Strobe Effect". I don't know why; it was funnier last night.

Okay, so Joshie was a little nervous around the fireworks. He held onto my leg for half of the show and Lance held him for the other half.

But being nervous was probably a good thing. Spencer wasn't nervous at all and we were contstantly yelling at him to get away from the fireworks when they were done but still smoking.

Dom actually running away from the fireworks. (Anyone who knows Dom is probably surprised by this!)

We also played with sparklers. Ashton seemed pretty impressed. (Although he did, in typical older brother fashion, try to touch Dom with one!)

Spencer loved the sparklers! (Fire! Fun! Little boy heaven!)

Josh wasn't so sure about the sparklers at first.

But he soon got over it.

Even Dom got in on the action. (Poor little guy - he later tried to touch a finished sparkler and got some blistered fingers. But it wasn't anything that an ice bag and a Dorito couldn't fix!)

This year's Fourth of July? Good.