Indianapolis, Indiana – Happy Independence Day! Saturday, July 4

Bryn: we're visiting our friends Cathy, Don, and Burton. Thank you for being such incredible hosts! The first event was a visit to The Big Boom Fireworks Store. The 5 boys had oodles of fun filling their baskets full of pyrotechnic goodies!

Burton: We beasted at the fireworks store. We were awesome, just the best.

Randy: We had fun shopping for fireworks. It's almost as fun shopping for them as shooting them off.

Cathy: We went to Shapiro's Deli in Carmel for lunch. We would have eaten outside if it hadn't been raining.

Bryn: Then we went home, stopping at another fireworks store looking for Chinese lanterns, and a bookstore. Cathy showed me an entry about her in a gourd art book. Then Cathy and I went for groceries and the boys stayed home. Rain kept them inside, they watched The Mummy: the Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. In a bit of dry time, the boys did some sword fighting in the back yard. Bret was at a disadvantage because he slipped on the wet grass. Don grilled turkey burgers but we ate our Independence Feast inside instead of out in the rain. Then the rain turned to a sprinkle and we did daylight fireworks in the backyard at around 8 pm. When it was fully dark, around 9:30, we did more, bigger, brighter fireworks.

Reed: KA-BOOM! Every time we come here we're going to get the California Illegal, the Ladybugs, and the spinny things. Ladybugs spun around red, turned green and spun into the air, then exploded!

Bret: They were AWESOME! We beat all of the neighbors in a fireworks competition (if there was a competition!).

Cathy: They were fabulous – great colors!

Bryn: The sound was amazing, there were whistles and booms from all directions. Some of the ones that we shot were over the 40' trees in the backyard – so surprising that they sell big ones like that.

Randy: It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed buying them, shooting them off, and watching everyone else shoot them off. That song Little Green Apples is wrong.

Bryn: We just heard on the news that for the first time in 27 years, the downtown fireworks were canceled. Maybe we'll go see them tomorrow. Reed, Bret, and Burton slept in the Sportsmobile.