4th of July (or 3rd)... :-)

Morgan's first experience with fireworks was at Disneyland circa 2006 - AKA the BIG BOOM. She did not enjoy the fireworks one bit and referred to them as the big boom(s) -  I will say they were loud fireworks. Three years later she has come to enjoy fireworks quite a bit. 

I have had lots of adults say - fireworks, eh seen um... not too concerned with seeing them again. This I do not understand. I have watched fireworks for most all of my 30+ years (yes, let's just leave that plus alone - I still have one more month until it really qualifies) and still enjoy them every time. To me, 4th of July without fireworks is just not 4th of July. 

I would love to find a place that still allows self-made firework shows, or even the ability to run around with sparklers. I remember watching fireworks at the end of Grandma Dutra's street (and the firework hut by the train tracks a couple of miles away) - it was so neat to see them set off right there at the end of the street. As of writing this I am making a new goal to (just one time) find such a place to take Morgan to. 

This year had a special flair of different and old school to it. In past years we have gone down to Sparks - they always have great fireworks, but there is  something "not so special" about it... For this weekend we went camping at Lake Davis and were able to drive down to Portola (about 15 min. away) and watch the fireworks. What I enjoyed most about it was that we got to sit in the back of the car. In front of us - nothing but a giant field, the sky, and some trees. 

The only downside for me was that they were on the 3rd, not the 4th. It really is not a big deal I know - but I have my hang ups about holidays happening on the actual day - it's kind of like new year's eve eve -  just not the same feeling as the actual eve. 3rd or 4th made no matter to Morgan though - she enjoyed them just the same. She was running around (ok actually standing around - we're not that relaxed) with a smores stick cooking marshmallows with fire on the 4th - so maybe that counts as an impromptu sparkler?