Family Vacation #2: Fourth Of July Party

Man, what an event! My husband's cousin, Jay, and his family definitely go all out for the holiday. It's all about friends and family and making everyone feel right at home. Well, we did. There were probably 200+ people at the park. Normally they host this event at their house, but due to not-so-pleasant neighbors they had to move to a new location for the first time this year. We were all very impressed with how smoothly the day flowed. It started off with preparations such as making food and drinks, packing fireworks, tables, coolers, and boxes of necessities to name a few. We helped load the trailer and trucks and grabbed all the small things needed to complete the event. For me, that made the day even more exciting. When we arrived at the park, we unloaded everything and put items where they needed to go before people started to arrive.

The park had a lot of space and a nice play area for the kids that was close by. We had volleyball, crochet, softball/baseball, frisbee, corn hole, football and soccer. I threw a football around with the guys for a little while and then hit the shade. Landon played football and soccer with the teens for most of the day. They approached me to tell me that he is one heckuva soccer player, and Landon really enjoyed the sport. They couldn't believe that he had never played before and told us that played well above his age group. I was so proud of him. I guess we'll have to look into yet another sport for him to play. They were such a GREAT group of kids. They were positive, encouraging, and supportive. You don't meet too many teens who are like that. Their ages ranged from 14 to 23, not including Landon. I was so happy he was able to spend quality time with those kind of kids. He needs that.

Everyone brought a dish to their event. I'm just going to say that those people really know how to cook. I'm guessing that it's because they are southern folk. Wow, absolutely delicious!! All I wanted to do is bottle up their southern charm and bring it home. Everyone was super nice.

After we ate, we hung around and waited for it to get dark enough to start the show. This gave the kids a little more daylight to finish up their games and the littles to get some last-minute play time in at the play park. Before the fireworks began, Jay approached me and asked if I would video tape his finale. I ventured to the other side of the park to get a good view. He was so happy with the results. Probably because he has never video taped it in the five years he has been having parties! I was so happy I could get the job done for him. The fireworks were awesome. I'm so glad we made plans to spend time with the C family for the holiday. So so fun! After it was over, we packed it up and headed back to their house. What a wonderful experience for all!

These Chinese ladies are school teachers in China. They were very intrigued by our culture (especially 4th of July). They love kids, so they played with a lot of them during their time there. They also LOVED getting their picture taken.