The Forth of July...Weste. Style

Today is the day that most ask the question,"How was your 4th of July?"

Here's my answer...

I made the mistake of staying up until 2 am. Typical of me, but dumb.
I realized that the bathing suits were wet and we didn't have a clean towel in the house!
 YIKES!! 
So there I was... DOING LAUNDRY while the rest of the world either slept or partied.
I tried to have a little bitty party of my own.
A bottle of my favorite white wine was popped open and a glass, make that two were happily poured.

Laundry and wine with HGTV. I am an animal.
Fast forward to the wee morning hours of the fourth...
I squint, I stretch... I notice that it's a crappy, rainy day.
I hear the kids watching cartoons in the next room.
Already!?
What time is it!?
7:30 am.
I roll back over and close my eyes. This tells me 2 things:
-I now get at least one more hour in bed.
-We won't be going to the annual Eaton's Neck Parade this morning.
A half hour goes by. I see that I was wrong about the first thing on my list.

Jim has woken me up.
 "There's no way that I'm standing in the rain for this parade."
I shrug,"That's what I thought." 
The kids have heard us. Our slumber party of two has been crashed.
 Addi: what kind of fourth of July is this? We don't get a parade?
 Chloe: It's just like every day now. No candy. No fireman place with hot dogs.
 Grace: This stinks. It's not actually special at all.
 Jim ignored these comments and strutted to the shower.
 My response: Well, we'll figure something out. We'll do something else fun.
 Frowns all around. One by one my kids saunter away. This tells me one thing:
COFFEE TIME! FAST!
I was really tired. What had I done to myself? But at least we had towels. God knows that we need towels. ...and coffee!!!
Jim walked out of the bathroom, took one look at me and laughed. "The rain was just what you needed today!You've gotta be loving this."
Me: "Ha ha ha. you're right." (But I really do love the parade....and the hot dogs afterward.)

We thought that the day was done, a wash out...
Then, at 9:50... the sun came out.
There was time for beach...
The fourth of July wasn't a lost cause!
There was a shred of tradition left to grab onto and boy did we kick it into overdrive.
Jim had the holiday off and miraculously didn't pay attention to his laptop today.

Yay!
Our little family was complete and ready for surf and sand.
The kids were thrilled.
They know our drill. The girls and I have been in beach mode for 2 weeks.
It took a mere 20 minutes to make 6 turkey and cheese wraps, fill the cooler with an assortment of fruit, chips, juice boxes and fresh water bottles, toss beach towels, beach chairs,beach toys (including jumbo shovels...must have those) and an umbrella into the car, suit the kids up and spray them with sun block. We are pros at ts point.
The kids even have a "spray stance."
Arms out, legs spread, mouths and eyes closed...
No, they are not being de-loused! It's sunblock time!
Spray. Spray.
Rotate.
Spray. Spray. Spray.
Gotta get above the stick out butts!
Danger zone! Extra spray required here.
Time to draw on the face with the sunblock stick.
Rub. Rub. Done!

The  Fourth of July Mission of 2012:

DIG. BUILD. DIG MORE. 
At one point everyone had a shovel or was scooping sand up with their hands or pushing it with feet.
Chloe and Gracie tackled castle building the old fashioned bucket way.
Jim attempted to re-route mother nature and win.
This has been an ongoing battle for 39 years.
I like to watch. It makes me laugh.
Then I sat back and took photos.
What is a holiday with out me clicking away?
Like most Long Islanders after the beach or boating we barbecue.
The BBQ went off with out a hitch.
Burgers. CHECK
Hot dogs. CHECK
BBQ glazed chicken wings. CHECK
Corn on the cob. OF COURSE!
Buns buns and more buns. YES.

Steamed mussels and oysters, thanks to Addi digging them up at the beach. -LOOKIN'SANDY BUT TASTING GREAT! (I must admit they grossed me out. If it weren't for Jim they would have rotted in their bucket.)
Lemonade. CHECK
OOPS!
Almost forgot the tater tots! What kind of Mom would I be with out this household staple?!
Trust me when I say always have tater tots stashed in your freezer.

We ate...the kids kind of ate...the dog ate like a King.
Showers then fireworks.
We might not have had a parade of firefighters, antique cars and candy tossing but the fireworks could complete the holiday. Hooray for tradition!

This year Jim and I were taking the girls to a viewing spot that I adore. It's a place where I had spent many childhood fourth's gazing at the sky.
I loved the idea of sharing this overlook with the kids.
The internet has caused this intimate spot, overlooking the harbor to become a tourist trap.

Lucky for us...
...the tourists didn't know where the fence openings were or where the best places to sit are!
I grabbed my bag, complete with glow sticks, flashlights and bug spray and ducked through a hole in the fence. (Wink...wink...this means we found a great spot.)
The blanket was spread out and we waited for the light show to begin.
The kids were ready.
We cracked open at least two dozen glow sticks.
The kids took the "stance" for bug spray.
We were all set.

It was time to chill out.
I couldn't wait until the fireworks started. I love fireworks!
Then Gracie started to cry...
and cry...and cry...and whine...and cry.
I rubbed her head. I swayed to imaginary music. The lulling and shushing didn't work.
She wailed louder.
"My eyes!!!! My eyes burn!!! They hurt!!! U- Uh- Uh- Ahhhhh!!!!"

Onlookers treid to be patient with the child ruining their magical moments.
A few looks were passed in my direction.
I ignored them...must be childless.
I thought to myself: Hey, listen, the sound of the ice cream man, blaring his crappy music on repeat is far worse than my daughter. Where did he go?!
Jim, Julia and the girls ignored the whining Grace.
Did they know us?
Guess not.
I don't blame them.
But damn it...help would have been great!
I ushered Gracie away.
"I wanna g-g-g-go h-h-ooomme. P-p-p-please Mom. My eyes hurt."
Me: Baby, you must have rubbed bugspray in them. I told you to keep your hands away from your face. (Why do we insist on telling our kids what they did wrong during moments of agony?! This doesn't help matters.) It'll be ok. I'll get water for your eyes...to wash them.

"Nooooo!!! Owwww...They hurt. I wanna go home."
Me: Ok...ok... (cuddle cuddle)

Shortly after this endearing, yet torturous moment the show was over. It was time for a mad dash into our car. Time to beat the traffic or be doomed to remain in Fourth of July Purgatory for at least an hour.
I grabbed Gracie.

Chloe and Addi were ahead of us.
Julia was standing on the side of the road playing traffic guard.
Jim revved the engine.

We cruised away.
It felt good to know that we were on our way home.
Memories...
One more for the books.
Grace was asleep as soon as her hiney landed in the booster seat. Chloe followed shortly after.
Addi was hyped up and determined to hang out with the adults for another adventure.
Little did she know that it was the middle of a work week and our idea of a party was closing our eyes.
She crashed on the couch moments after we arrived home. Boring, adult TV will do the trick every time.
It wasn't perfect but it was ours...

Happy Fourth of July!