Fireworks, BBQs, and Friends...Oh My!

For the first time in 6 years Aaron and I were finally together and able to celebrate the 4th of July as a couple. We decided that we needed to make the most of the holiday by doing all the things that we wished we were able to do in past years. First up was going down to the river and watching the firework show. I have had invites to go down the past two years with friends, but for one reason or another I haven't gone. Last year was because I was super pregnant and it was horribly hot outside, not a good combo! We put the word out to friends that we wanted to go and putting a big group together. We knew it would be super crazy down there so Aaron and I went down to river to scope out sites to sit the day before. We found a pretty nice one up on a hill away from the crowd, but still close enough to the river. Instead of doing fireworks on the 4th of July, the City of Clarksville did them on the 3rd don't ask me who made that decision.

We decided to bring a picnic dinner of pizza and beer, set up our chairs and blankets and just relaxed while we waited for it to get dark. The Furmans were with us and were a lot of fun...as always! Quenton and Malik were arguing about some video game and were googling things to find out who was right. Christina and Nakija were playing with Jackson and keeping him entertained. Aaron sat back and enjoyed his beer, while Viviana and I took pictures and supervised...lol. Right before the fireworks started the Bensens found us and joined our "party". It gets dark so late here that Jackson was asleep by the time the show started. I was kind of sad that he wasn't going to be able to see them; I was curious to what his reaction would be. Luckily he woke up about halfway through the show. Although is a sleepy state he was memorized by the fireworks! We were so close that they were pretty loud, but surprisingly he wasn't scared of the noise. Even though the traffic getting out of there was pure chaos it was an absolutely amazing night with fabulous friends.

The next night...the actual 4th of July we had a bbq at our house. We invited a couple families over to grill out and then light fireworks later that night. With this being our first 4th that we were actually celebrating I let Aaron go a little crazy with fireworks for our party. Not that we spent a ton of money on them (like our neighbors down the street who dropped $1500), but I think a pretty decent amount. The nice thing about being in Kentucky/Tennessee is that mortars and other fireworks that go up into the air are not illegal like they are in Idaho. This made the shopping and selection of the perfect fireworks even harder for Aaron.

We had a great turn out with TONS of food and TONS of fireworks. Aaron was just as excited as the kids were when it came to the fireworks. As for me, its sparklers all the way!! (I made sure to save some of the fun, big sparklers were saved for me. We ended up dubbing them as Mom Sparklers) Melissa, Viviana, and I ran up and down the street showin' the kids how to Really play with sparklers...lol ...it was hilarious!! Aaron had some assistance in lighting everything off by the "older" kids, but they were all giggling like they were 5 when one would go off! 

Lighting the kids' sparklers

 I think that we did a pretty good job making up for lost time and celebrations. It was definitely a very memorable weekend. Big Thanks to everyone who came to make it so=)

Lighting the Moms' sparklers=)