Happy 4th of July!!!

We had a fantastic 4th this year! Erik's buddy Mike was in town, so Erik, Alvin, and Mike headed a few hours to the Van Duzer for a man day at the river.  Meanwhile, I took the kids and met Katie and Lili at the plaza.  Having the kids there and seeing their excitement about everything really brought the magic back to this annual, fun summer day.  We started by walking around the booths.  The kids got their faces painted, they made spin art, and won prizes for throwing beanbags through a hole.  We stopped at a booth full of sweets and let the kids pick something yummy.  They all walked away with a chocolate dipped pretzel stick.  Jonah picked the black one (dark chocolate).  Good boy.  Then, we made our way over to the fire station where we picked up and ate pulled pork sandwiches, got fun stickers, sat in a real firetruck, and took a ride around downtown Arcata in the old firetruck.  With no seat belts and everyone sliding this way and that when we turned corners, the kids had a great time.  Then, it was back to the plaza grass to run around and dance to the music.

Buns up!

Having fun!

My hippie boy dancing barefoot on the plaza.

We left the Plaza in time for a nap, had some dinner, and made our way over the Nick and Kyoko's for fireworks.  Katie, Will, and Lili met us there and then we all combined our fireworks with the other people in Nick and Kyoko's neighborhood for a fun show.  The kids started it off by lighting sparklers.  Jonah even got to do it by himself... though I was a centimeter away, ready to take control at any time.  The kids used their sparklers to make "worms" go off... and then we got to the bigger stuff.  Jonah LOVED the fireworks.  The louder, brighter, and more it startled him, the more he liked it.  Cairo did a lot of holding her hands over her ears and screaming and squealing.  She was all about the drama...but she had her cousin Mei there to help her with it.  Lili wasn't so sure about the fireworks at first, but her hands slowly made it from covering her ears to just covering he cheeks.  :o)

Lighting worms

After fireworks, we came home to Erik and the boys around the fire pit.  A quick 'smore, a few more fireworks by Mike and Alvin, and the kids went to bed exhausted, but very, very happy.  The next morning, they were ready to do it all again.