Memory Monday-The 4th of July

July 4th is pretty much my favorite holiday.  Most likely due to the childhood misconception that the fireworks were actually for my birthday, not America's.  Hey-it's an honest mistake.   My birthday is tomorrow!  (I'm turning 23 just in case you were wondering...)  I have a lot of fun 4th of July memories and here is a few!

As a young child I remember spending the 4th of July with my Mama and Pappy.  The fireworks were always amazing (now I'm not truly sure how amazing they really were, but at a young age, they seemed awesome!)  I loved all the fireworks except the boomers.  You know, those horrible fireworks that just flash and boom really loud.  I'm sure they are only in the fireworks shows because they are cheap, because who really likes those anyhow?

As I got older, we started doing the 4th at home which included a trip to town to watch our town's firework display which for a tiny town were pretty amazing (and I was old enough to know this was true).  We always grilled out with the same family and would go back home and shoot off fireworks at our house.  We lived in the country with an open back yard.  Our friends spent a lot of money on the fancy fireworks, so sometimes our firework show rivaled the town's display!

On my 25th birthday (oops, now I've given away that I will not be turning 23 tomorrow...), I spent the 4th of July with my friends Sam and Jessica in Hawaii!  Talk about an awesome firework display.  I have actually been lucky enough to see fireworks in Hawaii twice.  Once on New Year's 2000 and then again on the 4th of July 2005.  There is nothing better than fireworks over the ocean!

Jeff's first 4th of July with my family was a fun one as my father attempted to burn our house down with a misdirected firework and then attempted to blow Jeff away with another miscalculation...I've never seen Jeff jump and move so fast!

When we lived up north, we were fortunate enough to be able to watch the town's fireworks from our subdivision park.  So Logan at the young age of 1 month watched his first fireworks display and pretty much slept through the whole thing! 

Yep-that is him in there!

You just forget how little they are!

Last year, we were leaving for Virginia Beach, VA for a entire family vacation on the 4th of July, but were able to watch our town's fireworks display on the 3rd.  Luckily, it was just a short walk from our house to see them.  We actually got to see several fireworks displays on our drive on the 4th of July from our car window.  It would have been better had we already been in Virginia Beach with the rest of the family because there is no one better to watch fireworks with than my Aunt Vicki!  We "Ooooooo" and "Aaaaaaaaa" over all the fireworks and it is a blast!

Happy 4th of July to all!  I expect plenty of "Ooooooo"ing and "Aaaaaaaa" ing tonight from everyone!

I'll leave you with this awesome picture my dad photoshopped together.  He actually took the photo of the eagle a few years back, but them put it over the American flag and added the quote!  He's quite talented!