So far this year though it's been more preparation than activity, pyrotechnics wise, that is.
Yesterday we chose a tent to shop at, and my wife and two youngest children and I found some favorites and kept within a reasonable budget. (That tent sold Black Cat brand almost exclusively, which are quality...but I noticed their stock leaned heavily toward the bigger, more expensive items.)
The third of July being my sweet wife's birthday, she called the shots as to what we did. Right after buying the works, we walked across the parking lot to our local supermarket (HyVee), and bought a French silk chocolate pie. Not long after we got home, daughter number two arrived from work, so there were five of us for supper and pie.
After that, a trip to our backyard to shoot just a few fireworks: five ground bloom flowers, a few snakes and glow worms, some sparklers, a couple of those "chickens laying fiery eggs", a smoke bomb, a small pack of firecrackers, a cone (Solar Flare), and a couple of 8 to 10 year old (I guess) Roman candles I'd taken out of an ammo box. The flaming balls didn't gain great altitude - maybe 18 feet - but other than that they worked fine. In fact, the Roman Candles (Horse Brand) were marked as 8 shot, but they actually gave 10 and 11 shots respectively. Bonus!
For many years I've dreamed of running a fireworks tent...
Saturday, July 4 - much of today was spent getting things done around the house, and preparing for a get together and cookout at a friend's house in Blue Springs. My wife made a flag cake (Jello cake with blueberries, and with strawberries for the stripes on the flag). We took that to the party, along with our fireworks. After the cookout and dessert, we all walked to the neighborhood fishing pond, and watched while a few people made the attempt. Some time went by and eventually two fish were caught almost simultaneously, on opposite sides of the pond. My son, daughter number three and I walked over to look at one of the fish.
It said, "Hey, I'm unhappy" (Okay, I said it for the fish). Happy ending, the rules were catch-and-release, so back into his element he went. It had been a really pleasant afternoon / evening, with occasional refreshing downdrafts from cumulonimbus clouds moving through. But about then the cold front moved in, and got much cooler quickly. None of us were prepared for that, and daughter number three got chilled enough to be uncomfortable. So we left early for home, and on the way saw lots of fireworks...a few big ones in the distance, and many smaller fireworks in backyards.
Near the turnoff for Lake Tapawingo, we noticed a tent with a sign "6 For 1 or Half Off". My wife was amazed that I passed that by and said so.
So after I got everyone home, I drove back out there and purchased a handful of bargains. More about that tomorrow.
Oh, by the way Mike, I remember your sister telling that story about when she realized the old Dr. Pepper logo "10, 2 and 4" lined up with your ages at the time.
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