How nice to have Fourth of July fall on a Friday! We had a great time with our friends. Did I ever mention that we have a great backyard? We have a pool with a rock slide, a basketball court, a ping pong table, a fire pit, a play structure, a gas barbecue and a big covered cabana with fans or gas heaters, whatever you need to keep the temperature the way you want it. The sad part about our back yard, is that so many times we have big events here, that we never just hang out with our friends. We use our backyard for book club meetings, high school events, baptisms, game nights, interviews, meetings, you name it. But it all seems that it is a big production and we never just have fun.
Well, this summer is different. The boys said that they didn't want to do ANYTHING this summer. They didn't even want to sign up for AWANA Scholarship camp, which they typically LOVE. No surf camp, no baseball camp, no Junior Life Guards camp, no tennis camp. They just wanted to hang out. We do school work until noon, and now they go into the backyard and play. They've also been able to go up to the local park and play baseball, or just go up the cul-de-sac and play whiffle ball with the neighborhood boys.
This Fourth of July was different. We had dear friends over and we just hung out. We made it simple. Hot dogs on the barbecue, green salad, watermelon, apple pie. I got in the pool with my girl friends. Me. The one who NEVER swims when we have company. My friend, Linda, and I got in the pool and floated on rafts while the kids played all around us. Of course they tried to cannon ball as close to us as they could, or bounce the ball to splash as close to us as they could. But we didn't mind. After dinner, Carie got in with us, but the kids were too rowdy to let her (or any of us) float in peace, so we got in the spa. We have lived here over 10 years. I don't ever remember getting in the spa with my friends. My sister-in-laws, yes, my kids, yes, my husband, yes, but never with my friends. And then about 5 of the kids joined us in the spa and we had nice conversations with them. The three moms decided we didn't want to be too aggressive in hunting for fireworks, so 15 minutes before the local fireworks show started, we got out, changed into dry clothes and climbed our back slope to watch the fire works that were about 3 miles away. We all had glow-in-the-dark necklaces (of course) and we sang all of the patriotic songs we knew.
When the fireworks show was over, we climbed back down our slope, lit the fire pit and ate apple pie that Holly had made or roasted marshmallows for s'mores. Everyone went home about 10:30 PM.
The boys were right. We needed to have a slower summer, where not everything is a production. We have enough productions slated anyway, so what better day to celebrate with good friends than the Fourth of July. Without the production.
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