4th of July FUN!!

Ok, I posted my HAPPY 4th of July post really quick before we headed out on the 4th. Let me explain what the 4th of July was to me growing up! I will try to make it short and will just do a time schedule sort of thing.

CHILDHOOD 4th of JULY schedule
8 p.m. - 12 a.m. Capture the Flag with cousins
12 a.m. - 2 a.m. PANCAKE BREAKFAST at Lions Hall with cousins
About 9 a.m. Parade on Main Street
11 a.m. - 10 p.m. Carnival and FIREWORKS at the park !
After fireworks - Home to light your own with the family.

I grew up in good ole Grantsville, Utah and looking back, it was like the ALL AMERICAN CHILDHOOD, especially on the 4th of July! Needless to say, being busy from midnight the night before till later the night of the 4th of July has left me feeling like unless I am busy from sun up till sun down, it wasn't the 4th of July as an adult! So, my stuggle in ARIZONA (or the VALLEY of the SUN),has always been it isn't a BIG 4th of July spender in comparison to what the 4th of July should be in my mind! I have always felt like I was missing something. This year, that feeling wained a little (I still need the PARADE!! The 4th isn't the 4th without running down candy thrown by floats)!

We have found "our" family tradition. We woke up, did a few things around the house. Got in the car, drove to PAYSON, AZ. Once there we established we needed to set up camp since there was MAJOR CLOUDS looming above and setting up camp in wet mud isn't optimal for a dry nights sleep!! Once camp was set up, we headed to their town lake for a little carnival, BBQ, and fireworks!

Upon arriving at the park, we found a parking spot in a barpit (also known as the place where there would be a side walking the city but in the country it is the buffer between the street and yard). Got out the jogging stroller (rain gear equipped) and loaded it with all our "essentials for the next 4 -5 hours). As soon as we had everything there and shut the car, the rain came POURING DOWN! Having lived in Hawaii there isn't much that registers as pouring to us having experienced POURING there! However, this registered! The drops were HUGE and falling a fast! We decided lets leave Kaiya in the stroller, pop the back of the car and sit in the back with her under the tailgate till it passes! Our logic -

ARIZONA RAIN DOESN"T STAY BIG or LAST LONG! A few minutes and this will PASS!!!

After about 15 minutes we aborted that plan and back in the car we went!! Realizing it wasn't stopping anytime soon, we pulled out the movies and started to watch Peter Pan! Neither Prasan or Kaiya have ever seen Peter Pan before! We got about halfway through that move when the rain let up to a drizzle! Off we went to the party!

We quickly found the ONLY stand that still had DINNER TYPE FOOD!! Yes, it was 5 p.m. fireworks were suppose to start at 9 p.m. and everyone was out of their food except for ONE!! We waited in the HUGE line and then waited another 15 minutes for the hamburgers! Soon, the lady called us up and said, "We are out of hamburger buns, do you want a hot dog?" My response, "Don't do dogs, can you cut our hamburgers in half and give them to us on a hot dog bun?" So, we ate the most interesting hamburgers ever and I didn't take a picture!!! We were starved!! There we were with our haburgers in hotdog buns! They were DELICIOUS!!! Chowed down on our hamburgers, hit the Kettlecorn! Prasan and I have a LOVE - LOVE - LOVE of Kettlecorn! (Note to self: Buy GIANT HOLIDAY BIN of KETTLE CORN for us if you don't know what to get us for CHRISTMAS) You can't keep kettle corn (I should say good kettle corn, we know within the first bit if it is good or not) around us! Kaiya loved watching the guy cook the corn in a kettle! She thought that was much "COOLER than MIcroWAVE!!" I can't imagine why??

After our dinner, she played on the playground for a while. Aroudn 8:30 we found our prespective spots on the lawn around the lake and waited!!! Can I say fabulous! Kaiya played with her glow sticks, had a hand at taking a few pictures, and then fireworks started! The show was a half hour long! I kept thinking it was over, but it just kept going and going!! It was wonderful!! Off we went to our car and we decided to conserve gas by finishing Peter Pan while everyone else fought to get out down the little main street. We took a leisurely drive of 10 minutes from the park to the campground!

Saturday we enjoyed a few hikes, a play in a leech infested river (we left when we noticed the leeches), and a fun picnic back at the park for a little playground time and frisbee flying!

We had a great weekend! We hope everyone else enjoyed theirs! I think our favorite part was the 93 degree high and the 65 degree lows!! LOVELY!!!! LOVE IT!!! Just one thing is still missing, the PARADE!! Anyone know of any towns in AZ that does a PARADE??