Fireworks

This year my family decided to start some new traditions for the 4th of July.  So, rather than working from 4:00PM on the 3rd until Midnight on the 4th, we had a very leisurely celebration and were able to visit both the Dudleys ad the Johnsons.  

Alan, Faye and I left Cache Valley at 2:00 and headed for my parent's house.  As we came around the north end of Salt Lake Valley we were greeted by a tall pillar of smoke coming from the Timanogous area.  Unfortunately another fire had started in Alpine.  This is our view from Mom's kitchen window:

Terrifying!  Luckily the National Guard was able to respond quickly and soon had the fire under control.  On the lesser scale of worries in the world, this meant that the air quality would not be too great for the next day or two due to the smoke.  However, I was determined to enjoy our adventure whether or not I could breathe.

We started off our patriotic celebration by attending South Salt Lake's Firework show!  My sister, Heidi, has worked for South Salt Lake for a few years now and it was nice to be able to support her city.  SSL put on quite a show before the actual fireworks.  Mom, Heidi, Alan, Faye and I enjoyed several '70s revival bands, as well as the SSL Firemen, who really had some musical talent! We arrived around 6:00 and had several hours to kill before the firework show started.  Luckily, Mom and Heidi put together a beautiful picnick for us!

Alan made a small "fort" to provide some shade by draping an extra blanket over the diaper bag and picnick basket.  Good thing, too!  Temperatures were sitting at a solid 100 degrees for us. 

Faye was over heated, so Mom and Heidi searched for an umbrella to provide more shade.   They returned with an umbrella, ice, Styrofoam cooler, bubbles and a squirt bottle!  Now the party was really starting for us.

We spent quite a while teaching Faye to use the squirt bottle and squirting each other.  I'm amazed at how well that worked with bringing temperatures down.

 

Heidi is a great aunt.  She played peak-a-boo with Faye for extended periods of time, danced with her to songs of the Bee Gees and Doobie Brothers with Faye, and even shared her PBJ with Faye.

 Alan found entertainment in shooting off the lids from water bottles. 

The Fireworks didn't start until after 10:00, so we had to get creative with ways to keep a tired, hot baby entertained.   Luckily a neighboring family had two toddler girls who happily shared their light wands with Faye. 

When the fireworks started, I was anticipating to have a tired baby react to the loud noises with tears, but, to my surprise, she was fascinated by them!  Faye handled the loud sounds better than Alan did!  What a delightful treat. 

 

**** With the smoke from the Alpine Fire, laying on open grass, having a lot of dust kicked up from folks walking over the baseball and high temperatures, I was really struggling with my breathing which soon turned into extreme nausea.  I'm not entirely sure why my asthma makes me nauseous at times, but by the end of the night I had lost my dinner.   I still had a great time though!****