Happy Independence Day!!

"He's a Yankee Doodle Dandy, a Yankee Doodle, Do or Die..."  Ok, maybe Mitchell wasn't born on the 4th of July, but he sure did enjoy this 4th of July.  We kept our celebration pretty small this year, not that we have a choice in the matter... Idaho has some strict personal-use fireworks laws and they don't let you shoot anything into the sky.  Booo!!  If you want to see a really sad sight, just go to an Idaho fireworks stand.  They are pitiful.  But, poppers and sparklers are really all Mitchell needed to have a fantastic 4th.  We fired up the grill and enjoyed a nice evening together as a family.

Idaho Falls does have a huge fireworks show they shoot off over the river every year (apparently professionals are allowed to shoot fireworks into the sky).  They advertise it as "the biggest firework show west of the Mississippi."  That night we did go to see the show, but we weren't in the best location to see the show in all its glory (we refused to go downtown straight into the huge crowds.  We heard some friends tell us that one year they parked downtown and it took them 3 hours to get home.  Um, no thanks!!).  So, after a little bit, we got bored and decided to go see the new Terminator movie instead.  Best decision ever!!  The movie was decent, but the best part was we pretty much had the whole theater to ourselves (there was one other couple in there).  Apparently, our entire town was at the fireworks show.  Haha, suckers.  Anyways, we had a pretty good 4th considering nothing was blown up this year:)


This video is a classic scene from the movie Joe Dirt.  It perfectly describes our feelings toward the fireworks stands in Idaho.  If you want anything besides snakes, sparklers, or fountains, then you're in the wrong state:

And here is a glimpse at our 4th of July celebration:

Mitchell throwing down a popper.  He LOVED those things.

Keeping a close eye on his sparkler.  I falsely predicted that Mitchell would drop the sparkler and runaway.  He thought they were great!!  I should have known... the kid loved the candles on his birthday cake.  Haha, we may have a future pyromaniac on our hands:)

Watching the smoke go up in the air.

Loving the 4th!!

I love this picture!!  He's trying to blow out the sparkler.  I guess you could view them as America's birthday candles:)

Mitchell's first sparkler ever!!  It didn't take him long to decide that he liked them:)

Here you can see him try and blow out the sparkler (so cute).  Also, he is definitely Chris's son!!  They both observe everything and pay very close attention to the details in life.  In other words, watch Mitchell enjoying the sparkler... then he sees a piece of ash fall from it and he abandons the sparkler and spends the rest of the time trying to pick up the ash.  This kid!!

The poppers were by far Mitchell's favorite part.  I love watching him jump and squeal with excitement!!  It just melts a mother's heart:)  "I did it!!"