Time with Family

Yesterday was an opportunity to rest and catch up on some sleep. I typically wake early regardless of when I go to sleep, but I slept in and got up at 7:00 a.m. It was a slow moving morning, since my parents usually don't rise until 11:00 or later. Once everyone was up and ready, the boys and I went with Karen, Bill, and Hunter so they could buy more fireworks. Hunter had some spending money and he wanted to buy some that he could light.

Fireworks are a big deal here. I was fascinated by the huge selection and stacks of smoke bombs, sparklers, bottle rockets, artillery shells, and firecrackers. There was a large truck that also had boxes and boxes to replenish the supplies as needed. People spend hundreds of dollars loading up for an evening of cracking, booming, flashing, and sparkling. Zach decided to buy a few to light too.

After a quick lunch, we went to the bowling alley and bowled three games. Bill is an excellent bowler and put the rest of us to shame. I used to bowl in a league when I was in junior high, but I think the only time Zach or David bowl is when we get together with my family. The bowling alley was high tech, so we had fun taking our pictures and adding them to the screen and logging into Facebook to track our progress.

When we got back, my nephew Chris was there. He stayed for dinner and his girlfriend, Amber joined us. Amber owns the home next door to Karen and Bill. When Amber moved in, Karen got to know her, and played matchmaker by introducing the two. They are a cute couple and Karen gets to see Chris more since he's over at Amber's more often. Who says parents can't pick out your partner? It sounds like a great idea to me.

Karen lives near the end of a street that forms a circle. It is a friendly neighborhood. The neighbors all know each other and look out for one another. They bring out their lawn chairs and sit in someone's driveway visiting and drinking beer. At 9:00 p.m., it still wasn't dark out and the kids were riding bikes, lighting sparklers, and playing while their parents talked and told stories. 

Lincoln has its fireworks display on the 3rd so they don't have to pay their workers overtime on the 4th. I stayed awake long enough to watch the Lincoln fireworks display over the top of a neighbor's roof. When I went to bed last night, people were still milling around and chatting. I'm told they were out there for several more hours, but I drifted off to sleep to the sound of cracks and sizzles.