The fourth of July just happens to be my favorite holiday. It falls smack dab in the middle of summer for one, and holds some of my favorite memories. Any holiday that can be spent outside all day is held in high regards in my book...and those patriotic hymns...man. I have said this before and I will say it again, for some reason, (aside from hymns about the restoration/pioneers), those patriotic hymns get me all teary eyed just about every time. Plus, I love that for a whole weekend every shirt, swimsuit, soda can, just about everything in sight becomes all red, white, blue, and star spangled. And then there is the food...the barbecue, kettle corn, snow cones, all of it. I love it all! But let's get down to the real reason this holiday is #1 for me, those fireworks! Nothing is more exciting or beautiful than watching the night sky light up over and over again with color and light so bright you can see it when you close your eyes.
This year, after a pool party and barbecue with Kirby's office, we just so happened to stumble upon a perfect night. We had done some googling to find where we should watch fireworks, and found so many results that we didn't know where to go or what would be our best option.
Our friends had done the same, and randomly, together, we picked a show on Lake Lewisville (mostly because it promised food). So a 20 minute drive later we pulled in to Little Elm. It was about 7:00 in the evening and still scorching hot and unbearably humid. So we meandered around...picked up some of the necessities (aka kettle corn and a snow cone), met up with a few more couples, then decided it was time to park our blankets at a nice clearing we found in the grass and wait for the show.
Having never been to a show there before
we faced the same direction as everyone else, but had no idea where the
fireworks would actually be lit off, we were just hoping to have a good
view.
So
we sat there, playing games, swapping treats, and singing patriotic
hymns without shame... and then all the lights in the park turned off
and seconds later we felt, more than heard, the first firework go off
immediately in front of us.
I
have NEVER in my life been so close to the fireworks at any show, let
alone one this big. As we lay on the blankets each firework erupted
immediately above our heads. They were so close and so perfectly above
us that the fireworks took up every bit of the sky in our sight. My
heart stopped for a few beats as the magnificence of it all sunk in.
I
just laid there in the arms of my husband, next to dear friends, my
little baby dancing in my belly, with a huge American flag blowing in
the wind to my right, a little girl behind me singing her own version of
America the Beautiful (really just singing America, America, America
over and over) and the most dazzling display of fireworks I had ever
seen going on right above me...I can honestly say that was one of the
happiest moments of my life. Period. (I might have cried a few happy
tears).
When it was over, and the park
lights came back on, we laid there for a second longer, in awe...and
one of our friends said "there is no way we will ever be able to truly
explain to anyone else what we just experienced."
It was that amazing, and a piece of my life that will forever be a special memory.
Plus,
to top it all off, we somehow got out of the parking lot and down the
congested highway in a matter of minutes! Fate was on our side that
entire night my friends! The way home included crossing one long toll
bridge...and FYI the magic never stopped. The entire drive across the
bridge made the night even more memorable. Every ounce of the
horizon...in all directions, was lit off with fireworks going off along
the banks of the lake. You could not look anywhere without seeing more
being lit off and reflected in the dark waters.
I think I was living in a fairytale for the night, that's the only explanation.
{Don't worry, I know how large I am}
{And don't mind the fact that our husbands wore basically the same shirt and we had matching skirts...and seconds before we left I was trying to squeeze my belly into a similar blue shirt}
{PS: That's not the lake...that's a park/parking lot, Texas is still flooded}
{if only we knew then how perfectly placed our blankets were!}
{I told Kirb I love how happy we look in this picture...and he said "we don't look happy, we ARE happy." He speaks the truth}
{when the only ounce of light is coming from the fireworks}
I wish there was a way to thank every person who has given me the chance to live in this free country, I love every second of it...
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