The Fourth of July

For the Fourth of July this year, we actually ventured out in search or fireworks. Ashlyn heard me mention fireworks and would not stop talking about them all day. "I can't wait to see the fireworks, mom." Lafayette does a patriotic type concert downtown followed by fireworks, so we went to check it out.

Here's another fancy panoramic shot...click on it to see the whole thing:

Not having gone before, we didn't know exactly how early to go, or where exactly to sit. But we went an hour-and-a-half early to claim a good spot with our camp chairs (downtown=no grass to put a blanket down). This was our first sign of being crazy, considering we are in the middle of a heat-wave. But we coped, and Ashlyn had fun dancing to the music.

We picked a spot based on how other people were set up. When it came time for the fireworks, would you believe that we couldn't see it from where we were?! Yeah...that spot we saved for an hour and a half had NO view of the fireworks. There was a big building in the way. Everyone around us scrambled to get to a spot where they could see, amid murmurs of "they moved it this year." But it really wasn't bad, and we were able to get to a better spot pretty quickly, and see them just fine.

The moment the fireworks started, however, Ashlyn's hands shot up to her ears to cover them and started saying "lets go home mom." I don't think she expected them to be so noisy. So she sat on my lap, and I helped her plug her ears (we almost brought ear protection for her, but didn't) while she continued to say "lets go home" over and over. The fireworks still elicited the occasional "Wow mom!" or "I like that one" or "ooooh, colorful." And afterwards she talked about the fireworks as if she loved them. So it wasn't a complete failure.

Especially when it tires her out like this: