Stars and Stripes (aka Barbecues and Explosions)

Happy Barbecue and Explosions Day!

I mean, Happy Independence Day America!

Man did we have a full day. FULL. FULL of Barbecues and Explosions. Because that's how we celebrate America. By doing American things. Like burning meat on an open flame. And blowing things up. 

God I love this country.

My little All American

We started off the day lounging around indoors since it was basically the most humid day in the history of the entire world which translates to: Breathing through a wet washcloth. Step outside, watch your hair go "poof" and instantly become mysteriously sticky. So we sat inside and watched baseball on the computer and enjoyed our happy American air conditioning. 

Strawberry shortcake - the best dessert for 4th of July EVER.

Personal fireworks are illegal in this state. Even sparklers, poppers and confetti candles. BECAUSE NEW JERSEY IS THE WORST STATE OF EVER. So, like a good American, I smuggled two boxes of Pop-Its and four confetti candles in my suitcase from Washington and brought them here (I would have brought sparklers if I had seen any). So I invited my 7 and 9 year old neighbor boys out on the front sidewalk with Calen and we popped the candles and threw the Pop-Its all over the place. See what a good role model I am. 

Watermelon stars

Later in the afternoon we had a ginormous barbecue in the back with all sorts of neighbors and friends. It was hot and muggy, so the kids were a little cranky but nothing a little watermelon stars couldn't fix. (Super big hit with my kids. Took a cookie cutter and cut out watermelon stars. Easy. Fun. Done.) We chatted with friends (and made new friends), played tense games of Cornhole and the kids ran.buck.wild.


We stayed out there until it started to get dark, then piled the kids into the bike trailer and rode our bikes downtown to the public beach, plopped into the sand and watched the firework show launched from a barge right off the beach in the ocean. The kids loved it (of course) and afterwards we rode home and Calen actually thought he could stay up and play (it was 10 freaking p.m!!). He was pretty bummed when I told him it was uber bedtime. 

Even Cam stopped eating sand to watch the fireworks

So we had barbecue and explosions which means our 4th of July was complete. 


Happy birthday America!

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