4th of July Weekend: are Fireworks really worth it??

4th of July weekend went a little like this: Saturday we went to the splash pad and then grocery shopping, then to Tia Lorena's house. Eva took two unaided steps-- out of my arms and into Tia Lorena's. This does not shock me, as Ellie also adores Tia Lorena (sometimes more than her own Mommy), and has since she was a baby.

We ate KFC and watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs , which I LOVED. I found it similar to Wall E, which I also loved (and, in case you didn't know, my 2nd daughter, baby Eva is named after Wall E's white robot girlfriend, Eve, which he pronounces Ev-A). It had a good message. Be yourself and don't overeat (as we gorged ourselves on fried chicken and mashed potatoes, ha!). 

Sunday was the 4th of July. The girls wore their patriotic dresses (bought originally for Papi's swearing in ceremony!), and looked gorgeous at church. Ellie had 2 assignments in Primary, the opening prayer and the scripture. At home she had mentioned praying for Hello Kitty and her toothbrush in her prayer, which was immediately nixed by Mommy. We then went over what was okay to pray for. When the time came, she began the prayer on her own, and then turned to me for help. After that, she tapped the microphone once to make sure she could be heard, and then recited this scripture:  

 22 Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the ^apoor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.

I whispered each group of words into her ear and she repeated. She did wonderfully! I really can't believe how big she's gotten.

After church we went to mom and dad's house for desserts. I made a delicious (ha!) pretzel/cream cheese/berries dessert. I had previously made it successfully and thought I remembered how, so I didn't look at the recipe. 
Big mistake. It wasn't delicious, as I remembered-- when I took my first bite, all I could taste was SALT. At first, everyone tried to be nice-- It doesn't taste that bad, it's okay. But soon, we all had to admit how awful it was-- no one could eat it. As it turned out, I forgot the sugar, in the pretzels and in the cream. Next time I will follow the recipe! 

After we had eaten dessert, we went into the living room to chill and discuss fireworks plans. We put Eva and the Shoog on the floor, and they went to a clothes basket full of toys to play with. As soon as Ellie noticed they were touching the toys, she FLUNG her entire body over the basket, length-wise, covering and protecting the contents inside. It was spontaneously dramatic and had us all in stitches!! 

Mom and Dad and Kayleigh, Matt and the Shoog ended up at a completely different parking garage than us, and therefore we ended up watching fireworks without them, but we did run into Claudia and her mom Irma there at the St. Luke's parking garage, so we hung out with them. Ellie was tired and whiny and upset that Grandma and Auntie Kayleigh never showed up with the snacks that Grandma had so thoughtfully prepared for her.

We left before the grand finale so that we could avoid traffic and make it out of the parking garage and home before the crowds came. Both Eva and Ellie screamed the entire way home. 

All for 5 minutes of fireworks. So not worth it. I'm thinking next year, NO FIREWORKS!!!