The Joy of Fireworks

My family loves to spend the Fourth of July on the Lake.The day begins with water skiing, wake boarding and swimming. My husband makes everyone a country breakfast of pancakes, fruit and sausage. Amazingly the weather is usually awesome.

As the afternoon winds down with the end of water sports and lots of fun and play we have a "Fajita Fiesta" as we like to call it which consists of grilled chicken and steak cut up with bell peppers, onions avocados, lettuce, tomatoes, Mexican grated cheese, salsa, black beans and rice and sour cream. all put together on a fajita wrap. When we our tummies are adequately full which is usually around sundown we grab our dessert, a bottle of wine, load our children up and jump into our neighbor's pontoon boat and head out with about 150 other fireworks watchers to a place called The Reserve. My youngest daughter was married there in the middle of a rainstorm but it seems like it is always beautiful on July Fourth. The Reserve is actually a beautiful country club with a huge golf course on the water's edge. It is quite a sight to see the parade of boats heading to The Reserve. Amazingly in the past few years that we have been attending the celebration we have never seen a collision despite the large number of watercraft.

Often we will invite friends to join us. Everyone huddles together when the show begins. It starts slowly and then builds up into a crescendo with the skies full of color and light. The children ooh and aah and the adults smile in wonder and happiness to share such a special time with the children.

I often think about who is in charge of our light show and what the price tag is. The cost would not matter. For us it is free, but we love it so much we would gladly pay.

There is something magical about sitting in the boat along other water crafts with our friends and family. We trade funny stories, watch the beautiful show and when the last blast of light and noise is over there is always a boat "traffic jam" that forms as families make their way back home. We pay little attention to our wait as it lengthens our fun. Horns sound. The water patrol start their blue lights to help and owners of lake homes along the way send up there own light show almost as if to guide us home. One thing is always the same. We return home feeling nostalgic, content and happy knowing there will be another night show next summer! Then in true family form all the little ones are whisk off to bed to dream of the joy of fireworks!

No matter what you do to celebrate your favorite summer holidays, try to make it memorable especially for your younger children or grandchildren. Start traditions that they can depend on and look forward to throughout the year. Tradition gives little minds a sense of stability and love. They will remember the littlest things for years to come. It makes them feel a part of something and instills family values as well as showing them what belonging really means. You may thing churning homemade ice cream on a hot summer night and chasing fireflies later is a little thing but you will be surprised how your child interrupts it. Don't downplay a chance to celebrate.