Baby you're a firework

We had a super fabulous Fourth of July weekend, between bringing Luke in the pool for his inaugural float to Chris having a three-day weekend, we were so busy playing that I totally neglected all chores and housework. Which any other week would be totally fine, but with family coming into town in a few days to help celebrate Mr Luke's big baptism this upcoming weekend… Well, let's just say we're scrambling a bit to put our house back in order.

So while we had an awesome weekend and I would love to detail to you all the fun we had, let me just leave you with a few pictures and a brief rundown of our Independence Day.

So we got double-booked for Monday night's festivities, and went to a party at our friend's, the Andersons, for a few hours before heading to the Bounds for their annual Firecracker Spectacular. And while at our first stop, Taylor and her buddy, Marin, were having a blast running around the yard and showing off in front of all the beautiful flowers.

And then the sparklers were busted out, and Chris helped as Taylor grasped the night's first firework.

And then she held a second.

And on the third sparkler, in an attempt to show Miss Marin how beautiful the colors were, she burnt her buddy with a few sparks from her glittery, flaming treasure.

And, OH THE SCREAMS! It was almost in slow motion, as all the surrounding adults shrieked, NO!, coupling absolute terror with the straying sparks, and scaring poor Marin half-to-death and having her burst into tears. And then Taylor started crying too, and in between sobs you could hear her saying, I SORRY MARIN! I SO SORRY! And luckily there were no burns or damage to Marin, just two scared little girls and a lesson learned on sparklers. Show them to your friends at a distance.

And by the time all tears were dried and we made it to the next party, it was again time for the fireworks to be lit. So this time we stuck with the bombpops.

And we kept all Amys family members a reasonable distance from the combustable party-favors. And the night ended with Oooh and Aaahs, instead of third-degree burns.

Happy birthday, America.