Post Firework Let Down

First, we hope everyone had a good 4th of July. We did. It was a long night though. Fireworks were going off in the neighborhood until at least 2am....thats the last time I remember looking at the clock anyway.

The kids elected to do fireworks at home rather than try to go to some of the other fireworks shows around town. We have a big one over here in Katy at the mall and there is supposedly "the largest, land based fireworks show" in down town Houston, which I don't understand.....doesn't every city advertise that they have the "largest" fireworks display around? There's a lawsuit waiting to happen.

As usual the kids were just content with being up late. They got to stay out until about 10:30pm and play with friends once we finished off our firework load. Alex made the comment that "this was the best 4th of July ever!" Even though they went to bed late, they were still up at 6:30............oh the pain!

For some reason, we get to do all of the fireworks that are illegal in many other parts of the country, so we had rockets and firecrackers and artillery shells and our neighbors obviously had tons more. Texas even has these buildings/warehouses that stay empty for 350 days of the year, just to sell fireworks.

We had a couple of close calls. I thought I was being safe by putting a rocket in the top of a PVC pipe, but the sparks from the fuse showered my arm. Then our neighbor, who just had surgery and was probably on pain meds, lit an artillery shell without putting it in the tube, so it exploded on the ground and could have done some serious damage to the pretty faces of those surrounding it.

All in all it was a good day. We didn't go to the pool because of the thunderstorms we had mid-afternoon, but the kids were pretty good and just "hung out".

I must confess though that my wife and I are pretty lonely. We long to be close to family. They're the only ones we think about and when you are supposed to be spending time with family it stinks not having the comradery or making memories with them. It is unfortunate, but we don't feel like we have any close friends to hang out with. We're never invited to do anything with anyone else.

It is hard to see families grow and it hurts to think they are so far away and you can't be with them or around them or share in their joys. We are extremely excited for our summer trip to Utah at the end of the month. We're going to get to spend time and see both sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.