4th of July Weekend Rewind

I'm not sure if I can even call this a weekend rewind, because I'm not exactly sure where my weekend went! Oh yeah, I remember...it went to working a fireworks stand, working at my job, church, working at the fireworks stand, prepping for a party, working at the fireworks stand, hoping the fireworks stand wouldn't blow away in a storm, prepping for a party, more prepping for a party, and it finished very late last night with blowing a bunch of stuff up! But at least we had a blast! Literally!

Whew...while it was a long weekend in days, it was also a LONG weekend of going from activity to activity and I'm completely worn out. I will admit that this momma had a nice glass of Dr. Pepper at lunch (don't judge) because otherwise I might not have made it through the afternoon!

Things kicked off on Friday evening, with our first of several shifts at a local fireworks tent. Hubby & I both worked the evening shift and then Hubby stuck around over night along with Bogey to monitor the tent. I think we were both sufficiently melted by the time the sun went down & thankfully we could head out to my parents' house for a nice refreshing shower.

I spent the night at my parents' house and then headed to actual work on Saturday morning while Hubby manned the tent for a few more hours. Thankfully we had some downtime on Saturday afternoon and I would be lying if I said we did anything except for nap on the couch or in the recliner!

Saturday evening we headed out for dinner & some quick shopping. I have to admit that it was one of the most successful trips in a very LONG time for me! I found some great deals & was quite thrilled with my purchases! More on the details later in the week...it just might have had something to do with a little bit of growing belly!

Sunday we headed to church for a wonderful 4th of July service, came home and packed up our stuff needed for the next 48 hours, and headed down to my parents' house. Thankfully one of the other members of our small group volunteered to take part of our shift since Hubby was scheduled to be there for 26 hours straight! Thanks Keith! So...we didn't have to be at the tent until 4; you better believe we took advantage of that and spent the pre-tent time in the pool! My dad also decided to join in on the fun so I actually didn't go in to the tent until about 6.

And a little sidenote, the idea has always been to take Bogey with us to the tent as our security guard. Well it turns out that Bogey didn't want to leave my parents' house...I mean AT ALL. He wouldn't even get close enough for me to touch him when it came time for us to load up! So, my mom decided to stay at home with the silly boy & I headed to get my fireworks sales on!

As it turns out, it was a very good thing that Bogey wasn't at the tent with us. I had only been there about 2 hours when we started to notice a definite change in the weather. Radar definitely indicated some pretty heavy rain, wind, & thunderstorms headed straight for us. My dad stuck around with Hubby to watch over the tent & I headed back home to ride out the storm in the comfort of my parents' house. Thankfully nothing serious happened, but it was definitely a serious thunderstorm! I'm glad those tents hold up so well!

Hubby spent another night in the tent while I stayed at my parents' house with Bogey. I spent most of Monday helping my mom prep for the big party on Monday night. We had about 30 people join us for some yummy food, lots of fun, & of course a ton of fireworks!

My mom's welcome sign!

My sister-in-law and I were in charge of some of the creations...we took some serious advice from Our Best Bites and made things extremely patriotic!

Red, White & Blue Strawberries

Red, White & Blue Fruit Pizza

Ooey-Gooey Peanut Butter Chocolate Brownies

Mmmm...everything was so delicious! After dinner it wasn't long before we headed out to start shooting off our incredible fireworks collection!

I think my dad is getting a little bit of practice in...

And I don't think there is anything more exciting than watching a father-to-be teach two small children about fireworks. This was seriously so precious!

And just to prove that rivals can still be best friends...St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs, but seriously best friends forever!

Bogey even laid down to watch some of the fireworks...ok so it only lasted about 2 minutes, but I'll take what I can get...

And of course we had to have some lanterns...

And some beautiful fountains...

Overall I couldn't have asked for a better 4th of July celebration. It's always a big deal at our house and I'm so grateful for my friends & family who have made the annual event a priority! I can't believe I'll have a little one to be toting around next year at this time!

Now, I think tonight will definitely include a nice evening nap!