Fireworks and Boat Rides

Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a lot of fun spending time with family and friends, eating some good food, shooting off some fireworks, setting things on fire because of the fireworks, and hopefully not drinking TOO much :) We had a wonderful 4th at our house. Our first real one with Livers, because last year she was a bit too young to really care. Most of our festivities took place on the 3rd, because our town had its celebration on that day (don't ask me why), but we did have the obligatory cookout on the 4th.

This was the first time that either of us participated in our town's 4th festivities. We really wanted to just see some fireworks, but I had hoped to see what kind of children's activities they had planned so that Livers would have fun, too. When we drove up there around 8:15 or so, it was very crowded. J wasn't feeling too good, and this did not sit well with him. Top that with the fact that it was $10 to get in, and the night was almost a bust. After driving by we decided to do a loop and see if we could park somewhere for free, so we found a space by one of the dikes by the lake and started to walk.

To get to the festival you had to cross a bridge that goes over the lake. This scared J, because he worried that someone would hit us, but I assured him it would be okay because there was a sidewalk. As we're crossing the bridge I look down and tell Jeremy that I think I recognize one of our friends driving a boat. He said there was no way, but I kept insisting. He still didn't believe me until B's daughter looks up and sees me and starts shouting, "Lindsay! Lindsay!" We all waved down at them, and then we noticed that the boat behind them was full of some more of our friends. We call down to them to say that we're walking to the festival, and they asked if we wanted to get on their boat and see the fireworks. I love a good random evening, so we agreed and walked over to the other side of the bridge, hopped the guard rail, trekked through some brush, and made it to a little beach to board their boat. We didn't have a life jacket for ourselves, but they had a small one for Livers to wear.

I was concerned about how Livers would take to being on a cramped pontoon for an hour or so, but it didn't faze her at all. She enjoyed walking back and forth from one end of the boat to the other, trying to get into people's chips and cookies, and messing with the various gauges next to the boat's steering wheel. We ended up tying our boat to our other friend's boat and sat there for awhile chatting and waiting for the fireworks to begin. It was a lot of fun. As long as I've lived here I've never been on a boat (except to ski on a neighboring lake when I was kin college and once sailing), and it was a whole lot of fun. I kept telling J later how much I wish we had a one of our own.

Around 9:15 or so, once it had finally gotten dark, they finally started to shoot off the fireworks. I wasn't sure how Livers would react to them, since I know some children are very sensitive to sound AND we were on a boat with no way to escape if she had a fit. Luckily she was absolutely mesmerized by the sounds and colors. I muffed her ears with my hands for awhile just in case she was frightened by the sound, but after awhile she wanted them off of her ears and to get out of my lap, and it apparently didn't bother her at all. She spent part of the show running back and forth from cupholder to cupholder placing water bottles in and out, in and out. When it was time for the grand finale she had positioned herself next to M, the boat's captain, and was intermittently trying to touch the controls and stopping to watch the last fireworks get shot off. The look on her face as she watched them was priceless. She was so enthralled with them. I wish I could have gotten pictures of both the fireworks and of her on the boat watching them, but the swaying of the boat combined with how generally pathetic my camera is made it impossible.

After the fireworks were over we untied ourselves from our friend's boat and then slowly sped back to M's house. It was too dark and dangerous to try and jump the railing and trek through the woods to get back to our car, so we decided that I was going to hitch a ride back to my car and drive back to pick up J and Livers once we got to M's house. It was so calming driving back to the house (when Livers wasn't getting into everything). I loved how dark and peaceful it had become and the way the breeze felt on my face. It amazed me how well M new his way through the lake, because I'm sure I would've hit someone or beached the boat.

We finally got back to his house after 10, and hung out there for a little bit. His house was very nice, and he gave us a tour of it. We definitely had a case of house envy :) Around 11:15 we finally left to head home. Livers fell asleep in the car halfway there. You always think that keeping a baby up that late would mean that she's sure to sleep nice and late the next morning, but nope. Up around 8:15, right on schedule.

Overall it was a very nice, relaxing 4th, probably one of the best I've had. Nothing too high class, nothing too stressful, no hangovers, no sunburn. How was your 4th celebration?