4th of July Festivities

We had a very full 4th of July this year, perhaps too full considering the guys had to get ready for scout camp! But it was a fun day! We started out at the Hillsboro parade, which was entertaining, but long. Megan and her family came along again this year, I believe we may have created a tradition since we have done this so many years in a row now! This year we brought Gabe along and Adrienne's boyfriend Tim spent the entire day with us as well(and they are still going out, heehee). Also Megan has her "little sister" from when she lived in Belgium here visiting for the summer. Big Leila is a lot of fun and fits right into the family! She is not big at all, except when compared to Megan's 5 year old daughter Leila, hence the addition of Big so we can tell them apart! In an effort to clear the streets of Hillsboro immediately following the parade they end with street sweepers which kick up dust and all sorts of unpleasantness. I wish they would wait at least 5 minutes or something! Anyway, after the parade we headed to my parents house for a BBQ where the kids played in the sprinklers and got completely totally soaked. At one point little Zach, who is not even two, got a hold of the hose and soaked a few adults who were not planning to get wet!! While there my sister Marella got a very scary phone call. The propane tank on their BBQ had exploded, luckily a neighbor heard it and did not just assume it was fireworks. The siding in the back of their house was warped and the grill was destroyed and the grass was burned, but there was no serious damage, which was a blessing but it was still a scary experience for Marella and Dan.

I went home to make our traditional 4th of July ice cream, vanilla and strawberry. In the past we have served the ice cream at a gathering here at home and set off an arsenal of fireworks for the family to enjoy. This year fireworks were not in our budget, nor anyone elses, so we deviated from the usual. I do not like crowds, I don't think there is anything fun about being in a huge crowd of people even if it is to watch fireworks, espcially on a hot summer day. So I was less than thrilled at the idea of going to a big fireworks display out in Banks that Jeremy discovered. But I also did not want to do nothing on the night of the 4th, the kids were so looking forward to fireworks. So we headed out around 8 and found a small hillside off Hwy 6 and 47 overlooking the park where the fireworks were launched from. Across from us was an off/on ramp for the highway and in the center of that were emergency vehicles and a life flight helicopter. There was a demolition derby going on so we thought maybe they were there as a precaution. After a while Richard put Joseph on his shoulders and decided this was a perfect learning opportunity for our future pilot! He asked the pilot for a quick look and they got a tour! After about ten minutes they turned and ran from the helicopter and stopped to watch at a safe distance. When they got back Richard explained that there was an accident in the mountainous region of the freeway and an ambulance was bringing a patient to the helicopter who would then fly it on to a Portland hospital. It was fascinating to see it take off so up close and fly right over our heads. The fireworks were to start at 10, but shortly before then our friend the helicopter was back and within about 15 minutes another ambulance arrived with yet another patient. Needless to say the fireworks were delayed while the helicopter was in the area. I do hope both of those patients are alright. I tried to look up information on it, but found nothing. Again we watched it take off and around 10:30 the fireworks started. The sun was down, it felt wonderful out and the display was fabulous! We were not the only ones who chose to watch from where we were. We had parked in a small grocery store parking lot with one exit and it took about an hour to get out after we loaded up the car. Next time we will park out on the street after dropping off our blankets for a quicker escape.

I must commend Jeremy on his great idea and apologize that I wasn't completely on board with the plan he and Richard came up with while with the Nerd Herd(a story for another post). I would gladly go do this again next year and would love to have the whole family there with us if they can! It was funny, when we headed out to Banks Annalina was feeling a little upset that we were not setting off our own fireworks at home. But all the kids loved the fireworks display and were laying in a cute little row on blankets watching them in awe! Priceless!!