4th of July

Traveling on the 4th of July turned out to be a great idea. Traffic was smooth sailing. We made great time and even arrived for dinner. Fortunately, EJ's grandma (Nana) always has plenty of food on hand. We had a yummy steak dinner before heading to the beach for fireworks.

We had our own little pre-fireworks display of poppers on the front porchRyan and EJ's dad (PopPop) watched the boysI have never seen fireworks from the beach. I have been in a boat on the water, but never in the sand. It was so fun. The fireworks were launched from the barge seen below. During the grand finale there were so many going off at once it looked the barge was on fire. PopPop was kind enough to stay back with Ryan so it was just the 4 of us. The display was incredible. One of the best I've ever seen. I was surprised because Avalon is such a small town. But its a town with a lot of money. Nana's tax dollars really paid off.

Owen wanted to be sure he had a good view. He must have moved around 4 or 5 times.Mason was more interested in the sand.

The best spot for the fireworks was about 10 blocks away. So we rode our bikes to avoid traffic and parking. It was a fun ride on the way to the beach but I was a nervous wreck on the way home. It was dark, almost 10 p.m. and Owen was riding his bike between EJ (pulling Mason in the trailer) and me. If I could have seen my knuckles they must have been white. Owen doesn't ride in a straight line. I never really noticed how much he swerves back and forth. I was convinced he was going to side swipe a parked car or a walking pedestrian. I couldn't tell if he was gaping at all the people or falling asleep. I kept talking to him the whole way just in case it was the later. Fortunately we made it back safely. It was one of those moments when you hear your own mother's voice in your head, telling you this isn't a good idea, but at the same time remembering that you are the mother now.