Happy 4th of July

Our fourth was quite mellow, owing to the fact that I was supposed to work, and Mike woke up on Saturday morning with the flu. I thought he may have been suffering from overkill after taking all the kids to Classic Waterslides and then the drive-in until 2:00 a.m. the night before, but alas the fever, sweats and chills supported his claim, and I let him stay in bed all day long. Am I nice or what? As a drive-in side note, the Bell boys showed an unprecedented prowess in staying awake for the second movie, and Mike said that level of commitment had to be rewarded by staying through the second show. Apparently Sam talked smack as his track record of staying up late is much greater. He told the Bells if they fell asleep, they would wake up without their pants. Imagine his surprise when someone woke up without their pants, and it was not one of the Bell boys.

Let's say the work may not have gone super well, as I did see "Up" in the morning, have lunch at the pizza factory, mini golf, and then go to a BBQ. Don't tell my boss.

We went over to the G house for a BBQ and some very exciting fireworks. My kids are all so different in how they approach a holiday. After watching Maddie prance around the house for an hour trying on everything red, white and blue in her closet, coordinating accessories and painting her nails, Sam asked, "We are just going to grandma's for dinner, right?" Yes, Sam indeed we are.



Sam is thrilled to be there, as usual, although he did sport some red under armour, which indeed is very festive.



Max had just watched "The Three Amigos" a couple nights before. He celebrated by honoring those in uniform. He kept saying he was a "Freed Amigo." I'm not sure if the math or the Spanish is the issue with his misunderstanding, but I think I am going to go with the Spanish.



Bryan left early, and Mike was sick, so Troy made his debut as fireworks lighter. He did a fine job, although he did not take off his shirt, and there was no crack shown, which the Morgans were looking forward to apparently. He also was a little more bold than Bryan, i.e., he did not run away like a scared school girl aborting the lighting job when it was cutting a little close. Also, note the urn in the picture below. Why use a bucket, when you can use an urn. A nice touch of class.



Mike had a new special "inaugural fire stick" for Bryan to celebrate the fireworks in their new location. He even made it off his sick bed to supervise from the van. After hauling his fever-racked body over to the fireworks, he was a little bitter when he got there and found out Bryan had left him. We may have had to make a quick exit with Sam telling everyone we needed to get home before his dad pooped his pants.








Living the high life - home by 9:30 p.m.