4th of July

How do you celebrate your favorite holiday when there is a state-wide ban on fireworks due to Colorado wildfires?

You Wear Red, White, and Blue,

 You have an All-American Barbecue

Complete with festive desserts.

 

 You take pictures of all the 2 year old cousins together on the trampoline.

 And then all the 4 year old cousins,

And you quickly realize that perhaps a trampoline is not the best spot for a posed photo shoot.

Your 4-year-old tugs on your sleeve to ask if we can all say the Pledge of Allegiance.  That little light bulb goes off above your head that says "Gee, why didn't I think of that".  (Thank you, Addison, and our awesome Preschool Moms!)

As the sun goes down, you play Pictionary Junior with everyone, just as competitvely as if we were all the same age.  The grownups love it just as much as the kids.

 You pop open the glow sticks, of course.

And when the sun has set at last and the rest of the country is spoiling themselves in all pyrotechnic glory, you project your own fireworks onto a sheet on the backyard wall.  And you turn up the speakers to hear the boom as loud as it will go.  And you play it to streamed patriotic music.  And you let the kids take turns putting on the fireworks show and making their own grand finale.

Because that's what you do when there is a state-wide ban on fireworks due to Colorado wildfires.