Fabulous Fourth!

Our annual 4th of July BBQ morphed a bit larger this year, adding in some good friends who are not usually in town for the event. Actually it has grown over the years.  Once only our kids godparents came, but now there are neighbors and other friends as well.

 I envisioned tables gaily decorated in the back yard. I had games in mind for the kids and a cool outdoor art idea that I shamelessly stole from another blogger. . . and then, nature intervened. In the form of heavy rains and winds from Hurricane Arthur.

Pretty much all the festivities around us cancelled or postponed.  We did not.  I figure fun can happen somehow, anyhow.  And it did.  We got enough breaks in the weather to cook outdoors, but we set up tables in our living room for the actual meal.  My kids woke up early as usual. At quarter to 6 specifically, KC and Lissa wanted to know if they could start decorating!  Um, not quite yet, guys.

By 8:30 though, not only were they decorating, but their friend from next door was over helping out as well.  I had gotten white table cloths for most of the tables and that meant they could literally draw on them.  They had a blast doing that. One table had a blue table cloth and I had made big silver stick on stars for that one.  We made centerpieces and stuck those around the room.  Easy fun, kid friendly ones. (think 3 small flags held in place in a tiny vase by a glob of playdoough.  Then artfully covering vase with star stickers. LOL  But it was fun.  We had a blast.  We smashed everyone into the living room. There was food aplenty.  Much laughter and conversation.

In between breaks in the rain, the kids would dash outside for a bit, run around and then get chased back in by the weather.  They would play card games in the dining room while the grown ups chatted elsewhere.  It was just plain fun.

Best of all, my wife enjoyed it.  I love gatherings. But K, not so much.  She is an introvert at heart and gatherings exhaust her emotionally and physically. She said she loves the 4th of July though because she feels that people come to it with fewer expectations and that there is more fun.  I love it because it is the gathering that blends a really diverse group of our friends together.  The fact that Fiona was here with us as well, was extra special.

Tomorrow I need to start some prep for our next camping adventure. We leave next Saturday morning for NH!