Happy 4th!

Since my darling husband had to work today (and came home exhausted), Z-boy and I went off to do the 4th of July at my parents' farm. The 4th has always been a holiday for my family because my dad is a naturalized citizen. The rest of his family is back in England and Wales, so we are very aware of the differences between our two political societies. I remember when I last went there, I was handed a "newspaper" with a large picture of Tony Blair and George W. on the front looking very friendly. The headline? "Posh and Tex: Is it Over???"


Two of my brothers made it for the grilled chicken smorgasbord. Dad definitely has a way with the grill! He did his chicken with the infamous "butt rub" and brown sugar.. MMMMMMMM! Accompanied by grilled corn on the cob, baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw and rolls - and lots of sweet iced tea! A true southern cook0ut.

It was a lazy afternoon. Dad watched Italy beat Germany at World Cup Soccer. Z-boy, Matt and Jerry compared tatoos (Jerry's got a wolf, Matt a Welsh Dragon, and Z has a "P" for Pirate that he got out of a lunchable).


Z-boy was disappointed that there would be no other kids there, but Matt and Jerry more than made up for that. Z brought some of his StarWars action figures, and he and Matt made up their own board game in the garage using chalk and the action figures.

Jerry had a pair of walkie talkies with him, so Z and he played storm troopers and rebel soldiers. They had a blast... and Z was in seventh heaven.



We finished off the day with sparklers. Z-boy was very nervous about lighting them. He's very afraid of fire and here was spitting fire at the end of a very short stick that he was expected to hold in his hand! I told him he didn't have to do it, but he was very curious and it got the better of him. Six boxes of sparklers later, he wanted to go buy some more! Hopefully this rather irrational fire phobia is starting to pass. Up until last year, he wanted to be a firefighter! Then the fire chief of our county gave a presentation at the school and suddenly Z was terrified of fire. I'd like to know what the chief said! You can see the dubious look on his face as he lights his first stick....