The Best and Worst 4th of July

We had such a good time on the 4th of July. Our first stop was the ward picnic for lunch and games. Boompa brought his kites which Clark just LOVED. Kent was crazy about it all. Jason got roped into playing a football game against the young men. Those old guys just aren't as fit as they used to be, haha! Kara and I just had a good time chatting with friends.

Then we headed over to stake out our spot for the fireworks. Jason loves to get to the fireworks early and just hang out. It's so nice and peaceful at the golf course. Each year it gets more complicated to get everything there it seems. This year we had the wagon for the cooler and blankets, the dolly for the chairs and awning and the McQueen suitcase to hold the snacks. At least Clark was able to help. After we set up shelter from the sun, we kick back, have some treats and play games. We brought a kite this year that we couldn't fly. Bocce ball - Kent's new favorite game. And the boys brought their best dance moves!

Kent asked to bring the Canada chair to the fireworks. I felt a little weird setting it up, but he wanted a chair with a cup holder. It's the little things in life...

Speaking of Kent...here's where the worst comes in. We lost him. I don't mean lost him and turned around and found him. We really lost him. We had some balloons with us that the kids were playing with. We didn't have any place for them after we took the teepee down, so we just let the balloons go. Kent went chasing after a balloon and we didn't see him leave. Oh the terror of the moment when you don't know where your child is. Everyone went different directions looking for him while I stayed with the rest of the kids. I don't know how much time passed before we found him, but it was enough to receive several "we haven't found him" phone calls. We were so lucky that a young teenage girl named Taylor saw that he was lost and brought him back to us. I wish I could thank her more than the feeble "thank you" I said through tears. When I gave Kent a hug later in the night, he said, "Mom, I lost you." Oh goodness. My heart still races when he tells the story to other people.

I was glad to be able to watch the fireworks as a complete family, but it was sure hard to even care about them. I just kept looking at Kent making sure he was there. He loved the fireworks. We would see a blue one and then he'd run back to the group and say, "That was a blue one." Then there would be a loud one and he'd run back to the group and say, "Whoa, that was a big one."

I don't even think Kara thought a single thing about the fireworks. She was just watching me most of the time. Towards the end she got really cranky but I'm pretty sure it was just because she was tired and it was the end of a long day.

Clark always loves the fireworks. We were trying to give names to the different kinds of fireworks. We had weeping willows, flashers, happy face, and the really big one. Maybe we won't look into a career of naming nail polish. I don't think we're very good.

The boys got a ride back to the car after the long day. We were so surprised when Kent actually fell asleep on the way back. He's our night owl. But this time Clark stayed up while Captain Kent fell asleep on bocce ball.