Stella and I made a quick trip to Lagoon. It wasn't busy at all--we had to wait in line for the new Terror Ride, but everything else we just walked right on. We got the worst stamps ever and they made a mess, but other than that our visit was super great. I took some pictures of us on the Wild Mouse. We rode it two times in a row, and even though they really might be the least flattering pictures of me I'm into them. I love spending time with my girl at Lagoon.
Ashley wanted to have us over for fireworks this year. It was a really last minute decision. I wasn't feeling like hosting anything with so much of our family gone, but she offered to make dinner and we were into that idea. We had a great dinner and the kids played.
This was obviously Vivi's first Fourth and probably first time seeing fireworks. I was mostly into that aspect of the evening. I love watching her enjoy things for the first time. Thankfully she was a bit scared of them. Poor Finn grabbed the end of one of his sparklers as soon as it was out and burned his hand. I wish I could say that this was the end of all of our firework disasters, but it was only the beginning.
I had an uneasy feeling the entire night. The neighbors across the street were lighting that night too and I went over and gave them a lecture about how they needed to put bricks around any aerial fireworks they had. They didn't have any, but their teenage boys were so reckless with the fireworks they did have and it was driving me crazy. The neighborhood was pretty much going crazy with the big aerials and I was wishing the whole time that we were just sitting and watching others light them and not setting any off ourselves. Again, I just could not shake this feeling like something was going to go wrong. I'm certainly more gun shy now that I have had two incidents where aerial fireworks have attacked us, but this was worse than my usual unease. Finally I just said let's be done. Ava freaked out and insisted that we set off the two big fireworks Ashley had purchased. We still had so many left over so I thought that was an okay compromise.
So I took this aerial out called "Str8t Up" and made sure to get it all set up so it wouldn't tip over. My lighter didn't work so we had to go and find a new one. Then finally as I was getting it lit, Vivi started running to me and Ashley had to grab her. The first shot did not go very high and before we knew it, the second shot was heading right at me. They fly very hard and fast and then explode and it is really the scariest thing when they go haywire. The second shot barely missed me and as I ran another shot exploded right behind me. That was right in front of Finn and Vivi! So even though Ashley was blocking the babies with her body they were still in danger. Some shots even headed straight toward the neighbors that I had chastised only an hour before.
After it was done we had not one but two fires on the lawn. Thankfully the neighbors had a bucket of water to help us get one of them out fast. Ashley got all cut up as well as she dove into her bushes to get her water turned on. Whew, it all happened so fast and it was so scary.
So yeah, this has happened to us before, but I really thought by putting heavy rocks around them that it wouldn't happen again. I don't know why this time was especially upsetting. I think what made this more unsettling than before was that I really did feel like I was told to stop setting off the fireworks, but I did it anyway. I felt so traumatized and on top of that, I couldn't shake how clearly I was being told that we didn't need to light any more. Also, my overall unease that whole night made sense. We all came out unscathed and it was truly a miracle.
So anyway, that was it. I'm done buying those fireworks. I just kept wondering why I would spend money to play with something so dangerous. It's kind of asinine. I went on a social media rant about it as well. Mostly I don't like how flippant people are with fireworks when they are so dangerous. We had so many scary fires in the valley that night because of them and they really are a hazard. In the end it wasn't the holiday I was picturing, but it was a big night of change for me.
Ashley wanted to have us over for fireworks this year. It was a really last minute decision. I wasn't feeling like hosting anything with so much of our family gone, but she offered to make dinner and we were into that idea. We had a great dinner and the kids played.
This was obviously Vivi's first Fourth and probably first time seeing fireworks. I was mostly into that aspect of the evening. I love watching her enjoy things for the first time. Thankfully she was a bit scared of them. Poor Finn grabbed the end of one of his sparklers as soon as it was out and burned his hand. I wish I could say that this was the end of all of our firework disasters, but it was only the beginning.
I had an uneasy feeling the entire night. The neighbors across the street were lighting that night too and I went over and gave them a lecture about how they needed to put bricks around any aerial fireworks they had. They didn't have any, but their teenage boys were so reckless with the fireworks they did have and it was driving me crazy. The neighborhood was pretty much going crazy with the big aerials and I was wishing the whole time that we were just sitting and watching others light them and not setting any off ourselves. Again, I just could not shake this feeling like something was going to go wrong. I'm certainly more gun shy now that I have had two incidents where aerial fireworks have attacked us, but this was worse than my usual unease. Finally I just said let's be done. Ava freaked out and insisted that we set off the two big fireworks Ashley had purchased. We still had so many left over so I thought that was an okay compromise.
So I took this aerial out called "Str8t Up" and made sure to get it all set up so it wouldn't tip over. My lighter didn't work so we had to go and find a new one. Then finally as I was getting it lit, Vivi started running to me and Ashley had to grab her. The first shot did not go very high and before we knew it, the second shot was heading right at me. They fly very hard and fast and then explode and it is really the scariest thing when they go haywire. The second shot barely missed me and as I ran another shot exploded right behind me. That was right in front of Finn and Vivi! So even though Ashley was blocking the babies with her body they were still in danger. Some shots even headed straight toward the neighbors that I had chastised only an hour before.
After it was done we had not one but two fires on the lawn. Thankfully the neighbors had a bucket of water to help us get one of them out fast. Ashley got all cut up as well as she dove into her bushes to get her water turned on. Whew, it all happened so fast and it was so scary.
So yeah, this has happened to us before, but I really thought by putting heavy rocks around them that it wouldn't happen again. I don't know why this time was especially upsetting. I think what made this more unsettling than before was that I really did feel like I was told to stop setting off the fireworks, but I did it anyway. I felt so traumatized and on top of that, I couldn't shake how clearly I was being told that we didn't need to light any more. Also, my overall unease that whole night made sense. We all came out unscathed and it was truly a miracle.
So anyway, that was it. I'm done buying those fireworks. I just kept wondering why I would spend money to play with something so dangerous. It's kind of asinine. I went on a social media rant about it as well. Mostly I don't like how flippant people are with fireworks when they are so dangerous. We had so many scary fires in the valley that night because of them and they really are a hazard. In the end it wasn't the holiday I was picturing, but it was a big night of change for me.
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