We received an invitation from friends to go to the fireworks display here on post this week. Apparently, our post hasn’t done any kind of Independence Day celebration in about ten years. They decided to change that this year and throw a huge celebration that EVERYONE was excited about. Everyone except me, of course.
Go ahead, call me Scrooge and get it over with. It’s not that I don’t love our country or anything silly like that, I just don’t love Independence Day celebrations. They’ve always been hot and crowded. And I’ve spent four times longer in the car leaving the fireworks displays than I did actually watching the display. It’s just never been worth it to me and I was sure it would be even more miserable now that I had two munchkins to cart around that would likely get tired and grumpy long before we made it home.
Soldier Boy was pretty excited about the outing, despite my objections to it. We packed up and headed over to the park around 7pm. I figured it would be busy already but the temperature starts dropping around 7pm and I was not up for sitting in the heat any longer than necessary. We met up with friends and staked out a patch of grass for our chairs, picnic blankets, coolers and strollers. (Bob the Beast was along for the adventure, of course.)
The local symphony orchestra was set up and began the first half of their concert shortly after we arrived. We all stood for the playing of the National Anthem and covered our hearts with our hands. I gestured to Monster Boy to do the same since I’ve been trying to teach him how. The little man gave me a funny look, turned back towards the orchestra and brought his little arm up in a perfect salute! My heart about melted as he stood there patiently saluting during the entire song. I desperately wanted to snap a photo of him, but I didn’t dare be that irreverent during the National Anthem. It doesn’t matter though, that image is burned into my mind forever.
We had a pretty large group – four families with a combined kid count of 14! Yes, do the math; the Hooah family only contributed two to the mix! Needless to say, the area near our chairs and blankets was pretty active with kids running, jumping, dancing and digging in the dirt. Monster Boy did all of the above. Bunny Girl surprised us all and was really into the orchestra. She stood in the middle of the blanket most of the evening and just danced by herself to the music. As the sun set and it got later, kids started slowing down or getting more wound up, as in Monster Boy’s case.
The fireworks started with Bunny Girl snuggled on my lap, exhausted but still entranced by the orchestra. Monster Boy was still running with his friends. Surprisingly, neither one was scared by the explosions. Bunny Girl snuggled and stared with wide eyes. Monster Boy watched with his buddies for a while and then came over to snuggle with me. I didn’t have room for both kiddos and the belly in my chair, so I stretched out on the blanket with each one snuggled to my side.
It was at that moment that it hit me: WORTH IT! It didn’t matter how hot it was earlier, how crowded the park was or how long it took us to get home. The joy and peace I had laying on that blanket with my babies, seeing the awesome display of fireworks through their eyes for the first time and having whispered conversations about how cool the fireworks were was totally, 100% worth it.
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