4th of July

I can declare it "officially" official. The Fourth of July has now become my favorite holiday. There are no financial pressures and its all about family, friends, food and fireworks. Some of my most favorite things in life. Oh yeah, and marching bands and parades, too. There... I've just exposed my complete geekiness to the world. But I look forward all year to sitting on the curb for the River Falls Days parade and watching all the school bands march by. Some of my friends and family make fun of me for admitting this, but I get a huge thrill out of seeing the Shriners zip by in their little mini-cars in a zig zag formation. Such precision and unbelievable timing...I can't help that I get chills watching it. Quit making fun of me.
Back to the 4th... what's not to love? Especially if you're lucky like me: I have an aunt and uncle who live on White Bear Lake. Every 4th of July they open up their beach to friends and family for an annual bash. All you need to bring is a dish to pass. Ever since I was a kid, we've been going there every year. There's something very cool and "full circle" about carrying on traditions with your own children and having them experience the same memories you did as a child. My children will never share the same memory with me of having their first job being milking cows and having to spray manure off the cows' udders as I did, but they'll share a different one... running through the sand barefoot on the 4th, writing their names with sparklers at nighttime, and devouring root beer floats.
There's something about being on the water that makes you lose all track of time. We never check the time; there's no need to. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited on a friend's boat. I brought along my daughter Sophie. There were five adults and eight children. What an amazing time.
Our friend Keith pulled the kids in a tube on the St Croix river over and over again. You know how as a parent sometimes you see your kids doing something and you just want to bottle that moment in time and have it last forever? That's how I felt at one point yesterday afternoon. I was watching Sophie on the tube getting pulled behind the boat. The water was unbelievably blue, and the sunlight was shimmering off the waves. I watched her hold on to that tube for dear life, squealing and laughing with every bounce. Her legs were flailing behind her and I was convinced each wave would knock her off. But she held on, smiling the whole time. Those are the moments I hold on to... it makes it that much easier to weather the moments of pre-teen girl angst, slamming doors, eye rolling and arguments.
So tomorrow we'll load up the car with the kids and the food and some lawn chairs. Every year the entourage I bring to WBL gets a little bigger. Some of my friends are now bringing their children and I love that I can share my favorite holiday with everyone I care about. A couple years ago, right before the fireworks started, we were playing volleyball on the beach with the kids. They were shrieking and laughing and thrilled that they were able to stay up way past their normal bedtime. I was having another one of those "parenting bottle moments" where I just wanted to savor everything - their dirty feet, sunburned faces and sticky fingers from the countless s'mores they'd eaten. It's moments like that that'll make me smile when I'm old and gray. Which, those of you who know me, know that I refuse to go gray... so I'll have these memories for a long, long time!
I found a picture in my parents album from when I was around 2 1/2 years old. It made me laugh because there I was, tentatively standing next to a sparkler with an eye swollen shut from a recent bee sting. Even back then nothing was going to stop me from the thrill of fireworks. I hope everyone enjoys this holiday, and make memories to last forever!