The fourth of July has always been a big holiday in our extended family. When my family moved out of the country when I was 8, we would come home every summer and typically we would stay near or at Brittany’s moms house. Our summers were full of arts and crafts, water related activities, swimming, and imagination. For all of us, the 4th brings back warm memories of fun times.
The days leading up to the 4th were filled with preparations! For the kids it was all about the entertainment. We were preparing dances and jokes and songs and anything we could think of to entertain the adults. We were pulling together costumes and creating a stage in the backyard. For the parents it was prepping meals and socializing with all of the family that would come to celebrate the day.
The day would start out with our annual Independence Day Parade. We, along with all the kids in the area, would dress up our bikes and scooters and march/ride down the street. Our Auntie Boo would lead the parade, dressed as Lady Liberty with someone following behind pulling a wagon with a boom box playing John Philip Sousa patriotic music. We were quite the sight!
Then sometime in the afternoon, the kids would put on their show! Us girls had a dance we did every year to the song “American Boy” by Eddie Rabbit. Pretty sure we still remember it to this day! Our other staple song and dance was The Beach Boys “Surfin’ USA”. We would always add in a few other dances to some of our favorites like N’sync or the Backstreet Boys. Our brothers had a great gig where they would read the jokes off of Snapple caps. Our parents were saints!
After that, it was all about the water! Swimming, water balloon fights and squirt guns were always favorites. We were typically swimming all evening. Dinner would happen at some point in there. It was always all home made by our family. We would have burgers, hotdogs, chips, potato salad, Watergate salad, watermelon, strawberries, chocolate chip cookies, cupcakes… So much deliciousness! We’re definitely going to have to share some of our favorite recipes for summer barbecues!
The night would always end with fireworks. We could usually see some lighting up the sky near Folsom Lake. Brittany’s dad always made sure we had some fun little fireworks and of course we always had sparklers. We would write in the sky with our sparklers and then carefully dunk them in water. I was always just a little afraid of those things!
It’s fun to look back on all the joy that we had as kids and how we grew up together. I think everyone in our family dreams of being together like that again. But with jobs and life, it’s so hard to make it happen. We’ll have to figure that out, because we need another magical 4th! We hope you all have a wonderful 4th celebrating with family and friends!
Is it any wonder I have always called these nieces “my most fun and amazing nieces”?
As the oldest living member of a beloved five-generation family now, I love the memories of the parade, “program” and unforgettable Auntie Boo as Lady Liberty. They still today make joyful fun at all family celebrations.
Wonderful memories!!
Great pictures!
This brings back such sweet memories. Wasn’t one of those celebrations the infamous breakfast opera about Svenhard’s Horns-a-Plenty? I think they have since changed the name… such a shame… Horns-a-Plenty is such a great name!