Taking the Scenic Route

#185: Cooking with Grandma Zandra. While the rest of the country had hot dogs and hamburgers, we were making Salmon. Zora was excited to help prep the side dishes.

And some sprinkler time to cool off…

In the evening, none of us were up for big crowds, so we just went out our front door and watched the neighboorhood fireworks display. The neighbors at the beginning of the cul-de-sac apparently dropped a pretty penny on fireworks because they had some awesome big ones. We had some little ones left from last year and put those off in the street to add to the show. It was nice and managable and I am glad we didn’t go to the big downtown show. It was the first Independence Day celebration not spent with my parents since having kids, but it was good to spend it with Grandma Zandra.

We had a spectacular holiday.  Ironically, this was not a holiday we really celebrated much when I was growing, up, but it was a big deal to my husband.  His dad used to be the dad that bought insane quantities of fireworks and would put on a show for the entire neighborhood.  Zach’s enthusiasm has infected my family and we now gather each year that we can out at the farm and enjoy the day. 

My maternal Grandma was there for the fun, although she stayed inside (doesn’t handle heat well).  We decided to eat inside, but had a great BBQ meal.  Outside, the guys lit a few daytime fireworks, went exploring, and took very slow rides on the 4-wheeler.  I mostly hung out with Grandma until she was too tired to socialize and headed home, but the kids had a ball outside.

When the sun began to set, we headed out to go to the Inman Fireworks in the City Pasture. (yeah, you know it is a small town when the city has a pasture.  lol).  We turned the corner in the pasture only to discover it empty (well, except for the other cars that came expecting to see fireworks and were clustered at the enterances trying to decide what to do too.)  After a call to my Dad’s sister, we found out the location of the fireworks in McPherson, and headed there. 

We ended up watching the fireworks from the parking lot of the church my Grandparents (and multiple other relatives) attended through my childhood.  The show was very good, better than the Inman show would have been, with the bonus of not doging other people’s fireworks.  It also was calm and non-chaotic, unlike the Wichita fireworks.  A very enjoyable end to the day.

Riding with Grandpa