Independence Day 2014

I already shared one of my more surreal images from our July 4th celebrations but I’m never one to post just a photo or two from a day that included fireworks.

We spent the first few hours of our celebration at the home of one of Kei’s golfing buddies – a friend who also happens to own a pretty delicious Hawaiian restaurant in Portland so, FOOD! At one point I loaded up my plate and counted five different types of meat. The margaritas were also pretty good which explains why some of my photos from later in the evening were a little shakier than usual.

Despite the 200 or so people who attended the party, it was a relaxed event with lots of Hawaiian music and random acts of Hula. The whole experience really made me want to jump on a plane to Hawaii. (Random Acts of Hula would make a great band name. You’re welcome to use it.)

The kids enjoyed Hawaiian-style shave ice, drowned with colors not found in nature.

While we had originally planned to stay for what was sure to be an epic Fireworks display, a quick family poll revealed that the boys were looking forward to lighting some of their own so we headed home around 9:30. The fact that they stayed awake for the entire car ride at that time of the night meant that the Hawaiian shave ice was doing its job.

At home, Kei let my teeny tiny little 8 year old light a few fireworks. I tried to remain calm.

Side Note: The yellow cast in the photograph is from an overheat streetlight in the alley behind our house. We started a little earlier last year so I was able to avoid it.

We started with the smallest fireworks and then gradually moved up to the bigger displays with names like “Hell Fire.”

The blue bucket is there for the trash. At one point I referred to it as the “trash bucket” and our neighbor thought I was using a new Aussie slang for “rubbish bin”. It surprises me how I can still so easily be misunderstood even after 11 years in this country, even when I’m trying to talk like an American. Trash Bucket would also make a good band name.

This next photo is a rather cool mistake.

After we exhausted our small supply, we headed down to the corner of our street where the neighbors brought out the big guns.

I managed to take two or three photos before Thomas begged to go home to bed. When that sugar crash hits, you have no other option.

And that’s a wrap for Independence Day, 2014. God bless America (and friends and hawaiian food and fireworks).

Wordless Wednesday: Ghost Boy and Fireworks

OK, so this photo was a total accident but I actually love the idea of Thomas being able to send his ghostly apparition to light fireworks. It seems a lot safer.

July 4th Portland-Style, Part 1

I grew up in a country where displays of fireworks were a special event and handled only by professionals. They were massive displays that lasted 45 minutes to an hour and were sometimes accompanied by a radio soundtrack – and ONLY on Australia day or New Years Eve. (I also grew up in a place where you couldn’t buy alcohol in grocery stores, but that’s another story).

I’ve lived in the States for 10 years and I still find it shocking that I can walk into a grocery store and spend $29.99 on a packet of fireworks that I am allowed to set off in my backyard. I’m sure others in our neighborhood cross the border into Washington State and spend way more than that. I won’t do that on principle – and also because I’m a big chicken with two little boys who love fireworks in a way that makes me fear for their safety.

Last year we were in Australia on July 4th, so it’s been two years since my boys have witnessed the light show. And what a difference two years makes. Thomas was 5 last time, timid and shy. Now he’s seven and wants to light the fireworks himself (we didn’t let him). Two years ago, Samuel was an oblivious three year old. We may have even sent him to bed before the real fireworks began. This year, he’s five and his excitement freaked me out just a little bit, but he was incredibly entertaining. The friends who joined us for the 4th of July get together have children the same age – a boy and a girl. Looking back through the photos, it’s clear that firework are very much a boy thing, although five year old girls enjoy sparklers.

I’m breaking this post into two parts because I took way too many photos (or maybe just the right amount). The size and intensity of fireworks grew over the evening.

We begin before the fireworks.