Fascination with fireworks

I was never into fireworks much as a kid.  Once I had kids of my own, I thought it would be great to see them experience them.  And yet, I cannot remember a night like last night with the kids and fireworks.  Here is what I can remember.  I can remember Kaleb screaming one year because he was just a baby, incredibly HOT and it had me so stressed out.  Abbey has never really liked fireworks.  She doesn't like the noise.  Tonight was no exception.  Halfway through the display this year she tried to move her chair far away because she said it was giving her a headache.  Then she moved back closer to me because she said it wasn't quieter after all.  Katherine took it all and enjoyed it as any almost 10 year old would.  Kaleb was great.  He really wanted to be near me, for some reason, and I let him.  He was so sweet!  Halfway through, he began massaging my neck and I found out that he was pretty good at it!  How old does someone have to be to start training to be a masseuse? ;-)

Now let's talk about my 4 year old.  That Olivia is something else.  Three years ago we went to a friend's house and they just set off their own little fireworks.  Two years ago we went out to St. James where Kris' dad lives and watched them set off fireworks.  Last year, if I remember correctly, the kids were so horribly behaved and Kris and I were so terribly ready for bedtime that we didn't go ANYWHERE.  I'm pretty sure we just put the kids right into bed around 8pm.  This year we were fortunate enough to get invited to a party where our friends live on a cul de sac that backs right up to the Florissant Civic Center and they have a great fireworks display.  While all of my kids (Abbey excluded) enjoyed the show, it was Olivia that was just enamored.  She was fascinated and it was a moment of pure joy for me to see such excitement and pleasure on her face.  It was amazing and I just couldn't stop staring at her and smiling!  It was the highlight of my night.

The camera on my cell phone was too dark.  Kris has a flash on his camera but he still couldn't get any good pictures.  Fortunately a friend of ours had a 'real' camera and was able to get some awesome shots of Olivia in her sheer delight over the fireworks!