'Merica!

Some family members, off in the shade, catchin' some Freedom.

Hey, Patriots.

Time once again to celebrate 'Merica Day, and once again I'll spare you the history lesson that's seriously seconds away from spewing out of my mouth like projectile vomit (I know not everyone's as super into crap that already happened as Yours Truly.)

'Cause Freedom.

This time around, we Houghs decided to host a grill-out at our joint, which isn't something we've done before.  But, since we're mostly moved into our new house at this point in time (mostly, folks), we might as well have people over and show off the new place.  We toyed with the idea of inviting friends and family over, but opted against it, as sometimes those two groups don't mesh well.  Not to mention, we, as hosts, are left bouncing back and forth between one group and the other in that sort of situation.  So, consequently, we decided to host my mom's side of the family for the Fourth of July and invite a bunch of friends over later in the week for a bonfire.

Put on your Freedom Pants, America - it's time to celebrate all things 'MERICA:

Morning of the big day - some super bored kids, pissed they can't stay inside and watch television.

Preparing to incinerate a crap-load of dead animals. . . as is my God-given right as a FREE AMERICAN.

Uncle Chris and Alayna shoot each other.  Chris sent me some of the pics he took of this day, but unfortunately they were all in that bizarre, raw CR2 file format that takes up, like, 32mb per image. . . so I said 'screw it.'  You're stuck with what we Houghs took instead, Internet.

Chris brought over his Cornhole set so folks had something to do in the backyard.  He also brought over bocce ball, but nobody really pounced on that one. 

(She's about as good as Kris at this.)

Not sure if it's wise for Nicole, who's, like 7 months pregnant, to face off against a couple kids chucking sand bags her way.

Speak up, Internet - I can't hear you over the sound of my own freedom.

Chris embraces a bountiful gift from the Shade Goddess.

Still grilling.  While everyone frolicked around the yard, conversed, and enjoyed themselves, I was pretty much tied to the Weber.

Alayna and her tablet, enjoying the outdoors.

Grandpa Chinery, knockin' back an O'Doul's Amber

This can't be good.

Skipping ahead an hour or so, here.  Shortly after dinner, Mom and John left to take Grandpa home.  Chris and Nicole were going to hang out for the evening and help us christen our new fire pit, but carrying two additional human beings in 90-degree weather apparently tires one out. . . so they left, too.  Eventually, Mom came back to hang out by the bonfire and watch the girls light off some fireworks. 

While we were all sitting around getting started, we looked up and realized that one of the trees in the far-back garden is evidently an apple tree. . . which is great and everything, because both Kris and myself enjoy doing as much outdoor yard work as humanly possible.

Having a bonfire.  You kinda need to light some tiki torches.

Abby wears this swimsuit on an almost daily basis (not all day, obviously - we're questionable parents, but give us some credit, here.)  It's her go-to 'gymnastics' outfit.

Desert while enjoying the bonfire's maiden voyage.

I bought a few of those color-changing fire packets to toss in - the kids love 'em.

. . . Aaaand the routine begins.

We gave the girls a crapload of roman candles and other spark-emitting, non-exploding 'fireworks' to play around with in the backyard.  So obviously these were quickly worked into the ballerina/gymanist/whatever-the-hell routine they were doing.

You know how Watson loses his mind when he hears splashing water?  Or when there's a hose or a sprinkler going off?  Apparently sparks elicit the same sort of behavior. . . which gets old really, rally fast.

G-rated pyrotechnics

Summoning the dark lord Cthulu

Lighting off some of the bigger sparkler-ish fireworks I picked up (I purposely avoided ones that exploded, as I was unsure how our new neighbors would react to the noise. . . and I know how accident-prone my children are.)

This one here ended up being our not-so-grand finale, but the kids loved it - it went off for a couple minutes, so I definitely felt I got my ten dollars worth.

- Brian