Fourth of July

Sorry I've been so late posting photos from the 4th. The week has flown by, and all of a sudden I looked at the calendar and saw how late it'd become.

This was the first 4th that the two littles remember. I don't remember where we were last year, or what we did. Isn't that sad?

M. bought fireworks from a local stand. It was a giant circus tent at a local church. They sold fireworks to support their missions work. These tents are *everywhere* and people sell fireworks to raise money for churches, schools, scouts, nearly anything. It seems that the people here will buy them too! Our neighbors were setting off fireworks in June. The first trash day after the 4th, people's driveways were full of empty boxes and burnt-out containers.

Another surprise was the fact that apperently no firework is illegal here. Some neighbors hosted very professionjal shows, using fireworks that, up until this point, we'd only seen in city shows or at the Boise River Festival. Beginning at dusk, and lasting for nearly 4 hours, the noise was non-stop. I. Am. Not. Exaggerating. I even took video with my camera because I thought, "No one's going to believe this." It was like living in a war zone. Well, probably quieter than a war zone must be. But pretty active! I wish Blogger would let me post video. I'm not sure how to share it.

Anyway, we started the boys with sparklers. It took them a bit of watching Braden and M. with them before they started to feel comfortable. Brogan really enjoyed them. He didn't wave them around or write his name with them, or anything, but he liked to stand and watch the sparks fly off the stick.



Colson had fun with sparklers, but he tried to touch the end of one that had burnt out but was still glowing. M. yelled, "No!" very loudly, and Colson obeyed, but it scared him. So while he didn't get burned, he was afraid to play with sparklers after that. We have some leftover, so we'll try again.



We also enjoyed watching the neighbors' fireworks.


One of the neighbors down the street had 3 fireworks explode on the ground that were supposed to explode in the air. that was a bit scary. Each time, sparks, and explosive material were sent flying across the cul-de-sac up against houses, toward people in their driveways, and under cars. That part of the street is also kind of near a lightly wooded area, so there was no end to flammable material there.