Excitement & Anticipation

I have very slowly been counting down the days until the "best holiday ever" arrives. In case you're wondering what holiday that might be it is the 4th of July. I LOVE it. Love, love, love the 4th of July celebrations. (Coincidentally, my cousin Mandie also loves the 4th of July and is getting married tomorrow. Sadly, I could only afford one trip to Ohio this summer so I had to miss the wedding and see Katie graduate instead. I'll be sending happy thoughts and prayers to the newlyweds tomorrow.) Ok, back to the 4th.

As the 4th of July rolls around each year I reflect upon several things. I love the celebration of our country, our independence, and the men and women who fight to keep that independence for us. I love picnics, barbecues, red, white, blue, stars, stripes, and fireworks. And last but certainly not least, no 4th of July celebration is complete without sparklers! Sparklers are always so much fun. Fun fact: I am 27 years old and still do not light my own sparklers. In recent years (since I've moved away from my mother) my husband has had to light my sparklers for me. Strange, yes. I'm pretty sure you can watch me magically transform into a 5 yr old just by handing me a lighted sparkler.

To celebrate the 4th of July this year we will be going to a place called American Village. In a nutshell it is like a mini Williamsburg in the activities you can enjoy there on the 4th of July. I am thoroughly excited about going there. The thing I look forward to seeing the most are of course the fireworks. I can hardly wait. I have visions of pretty red, blue, green, gold, and silver sparkles in the sky. I think I could watch fireworks every day and still not get over how beautiful they are. I stare at them with wide eyes and an open mouth. (Yes, again I turn into a 5 yr old.) I'm hoping I remember to take lots of pictures of this year's 4th of July.

I've had so many fun 4ths all over the country. I think my best 4th to date was in 2006 when we lived in DC. My in-laws had come to DC to visit and surprised us by having Tyrone fly in as well. We woke up and went to watch Dave march in a 4th of July parade in DC. I, pale being that I am, ended up getting sunburnt during the parade. Then we went back to our apartment to cool off, shower, take a nap, and change clothes. That evening I was able to cross off "seeing 4th of July fireworks in DC" off my list of things I'd like to do before I die. It was a wonderful show. I'd love to go back sometime, but I think it may take an awful lot of convincing before I can get Dave to go again.

The second best 4th of July just might be the one spent in NC during summer 2007. We had Doc Rob, Combs, and Goodson (just some of "my boys") over to our house to celebrate. The 4th happened right before pre-deployment leave so the boys were stuck in town waiting to go on leave. We grilled out and the boys drank. Then we decided to get some fireworks and sparklers. Once those were done burning they found other flammable items to amuse themselves. It was truly a lot of fun and it made it more special to me because I knew that soon the boys would be gone for several months and I would be left to find some girls to help me fill the silence they left behind. Random Sidenote: If you watch videos of Marines being silly at home-not depoyment-there is typically a female laughing in the background. You never see her b/c she is the one holding the camera ;)

I have other random memories from past 4th of Julys...
Going to see fireworks in Centennial Park in Ohio with my gradma.

Making a sidewalk chalk drawing of people watching fireworks for the Jubilee celebration.

Watching fireworks in Centennial Park again with my cousin Lindsey and shouting "periwinkle" at the blueish purple hued fireworks. (Hmm. Good memory. I still have the urge to shout periwinkle when watching fireworks to this day.)

Sparklers in the yard, on the sidewalk, and in the center oval of grass in the driveway at the farmhouse.

Fireworks during Red, White, and BOOM in Cbus, Ohio. Super fun.

The Lands End catalogue cover that featured "Lands End" written in fireworks. It was amazing to read about how technically challenging it was to create the cover.

Bottle rockets and cherry bombs flying past my head in Megan and David's backyard.

So many fun memories. I can hardly wait to see what new memories I will create this year with my new friends in this new place. I wonder where I might be next year during the 4th of July? I'm off to dream of fireworks in the Nation's Capitol...