The 4th

I forgot to write what we ended up doing on the 4th of July and since I'm kind of using this as a journal to record my thoughts and stuff so I can use them to scrapbook later, I thought I'd better get that down. (Another run-on....oh well.)

So we grilled hot dogs and ate potato chips and tortilla chips and guacamole. I never buy chips anymore, or I should say rarely, but again I'm still having the hormonal salt cravings so I indulged. Plus it was a holiday. Anyway, we did end up driving out to see the fireworks. We went out behind Desert Ridge Marketplace. If you park at the back of the parking lot there's a huge vacant desert area and beyond that is Rawhide where they were shooting off fireworks. Clyde had discovered it last year when he ran out to get something and saw all these people at the back of the parking lot.

It really was not as bad as I thought it would be. We got there about 8:30 or so and got a good seat. We backed the van in and opened the back and then we also brought some camping chairs. It really wasn't too hot. It was actually pleasant. And we saw three different displays. One over in Scottsdale, which was pretty far away but looked like they had some really good fireworks, and then two right next to each other. One was Rawhide and then one beyond Rawhide a ways. I had told Clyde that maybe we should try to get a little closer because they might seem small from farther away. He didn't think I had a point until the fireworks started and he was all like, "That's all the bigger they are? Hmmm.... maybe you were right." THANK YOU! They started out kind of small but there was some nice big ones before it was all over. And I was very proud that I had actually ventured out in the potential horrible heat and the kids liked it. I was relieved that the temperature wasn't bad. When I got back in the van I noted it was 94 degrees. It must have been close to 10 p.m. or so.

So it was a nice day. This is the first year that I've really felt like maybe we should think about a pool. Yeah, I know... how have we existed in Arizona without a pool in the summer? I have never felt comfortable about having a pool because I always had at least one baby or toddler. Jaiden is six now and I am not as paranoid as I have been the past (nearly) 14 years we've lived in Phoenix. Now I can see that it would be nice and since Jaiden is not a toddler anymore, maybe we'll start to think about the possiblity.

So now all that's left in the summer is to try to get ready for and make it to San Diego for a beachy getaway and then the annual school shopping for clothes and school supplies! That should take up the next five and a half weeks. This summer is going faster than any summer I can remember for a long time. I don't really know why. Maybe it doesn't seem quite as hot as it has been other summers, I don't know. I'm not aware of the statistics but it hasn't seemed too brutal to me, which is a very good thing. : )