Then I gave them all tickets to go buy cotton candy and they stood in line in the rain without another complaint. Josh and Anastasia stayed cozy and dry under a sleeping bag while the rest of us got soaked. Thankfully the rainstorm only lasted 10-15 minutes, so the day was salvaged.
I do not recommend living in my neighborhood. Well, not unless you enjoy obsessive and constant yard work and don't own or have any visitors who drive a pick up truck and perhaps would like to be pen pals with the HOA. However, I DO recommend coming to our annual 4th of July neighborhood party. It *almost* makes the HOA tolerable. Almost.
The day starts with the entire neighborhood (or at least many of those with kids) congregating in front of my house with decorated bikes a scooters for a "parade". A fire truck leads the way and we all follow along over to the club house and pool. Then the fire men hook up the fire hose and everyone gets to play in the water. This picture is from last year.
Then the grown ups hang out on the lawn sharing snacks we brought from home while the kids run wild, swimming and bouncing in the bounce house and generally having fun. For grown ups there is also all day beer and wine for just $5. Hard to beat!
The kids love how laid back mom and dad get on the 4th. Typically they aren't really allowed to have sugary sodas or food dye. But hey, it's the 4th of July...let's celebrate our freedom by messing with our body and brain chemistry...because we can! They don't even use food dyes in England. We will show our independence by ingesting copious quantities of food-grade poison. The kids certainly don't complain.
There are all kinds of contests. Isaak won a $10 Target card in the watermelon eating contest. He also won some prizes in the swimming relay. Alexandra took first in the pie eating contest and Dominic got second.
There is also an event where they throw huge amounts of change into the pool and the kids dive for it. Jane some how managed to bring back more change than all the other Tobin children combined. All together they got about $10. This is Jane:
She leads a charmed life. Everything just falls into place for Jane. Each of the kids took a dollar worth of their change to the concession stand to buy a treat. Jane purchased a bag of chips and came back with 75 cents. I was surprised that they were only a quarter. Jane was dismayed to notice that the other kids used their money for cookies, she didn't think of that. Since she had only spent a quarter, and because she's Jane, I gave her another dollar and let her go back for a cookie. She came back with a cookie and 75 cents again. Apparently, when you're Jane, you can get anything you want for a quarter.
When the festivities were over we came back to my house for BBQ pork for dinner and grandpa's delicious ice cream cake for desert.
I managed to score tickets to Independence Day Strikes back at Fiddlers Green. The Colorado Symphony Orchestra played music from Star Wars, patriotic music and other awesome songs followed by a fireworks show. It's a great venue for kids, with big grassy areas to hang out and play.
When it got dark, grandpa gave out glow sticks. Sebastian's glow stick broke - through no fault of his, he assures me.
Not bad at all for the worst 4th of July ever.
