Keeping Up With The Smuckers: Independence Day

We had a fun Independence Day weekend! Friday evening, the 2nd, we went to a church near us for their "Patriotic Celebration." We enjoyed a concert by the Cobb Symphony and then went outside to enjoy ice cream sandwiches and a great fireworks display. This was the first time we've braved attending a fireworks display. In the past we have seen them from afar - like you can hardly even hear them we're so far away. But the girls did really well. Heidi was initially scared by the loudness of the fireworks. So she sat in Jason's lap and he covered her ears as best he could. Emma would say "yikes!" after each pop, but seemed to enjoy them. I walked around with Rachel throughout the show and she fell asleep half way through the fireworks display. I don't know how they do that - but she didn't even flinch once she was asleep! It was a nice show and it was really nice to be so close to home when it was over (although it did take us 25 minutes to get out of the parking lot).

Then Sunday morning, Jason, my dad and I got up too early and ran the Peachtree Road Race. (My mom stayed at our house with the girls.) For those who don't know, it's a 6.2 mile race down Peachtree Street with 54,999 of your closest friends. It's billed as the largest 10K road race. It's a tradition for us and is always a lot of fun. There are people lining the street almost the whole way cheering you on, as well as bands and radio stations playing music along the course. None of us set any personal records, but we all finished and got the coveted Peachtree t-shirt. :-)

We capped off the weekend with a cookout and pool party at a friend's house. The girls loved swimming in the pool (as always). And they live down the road from Lenox Mall - the location of another fireworks show. So we walked up to the mall close to the time of the show, sat down in the middle of the road (which are all blocked off around there for the show), and enjoyed another fireworks show. This time we brought ear muffs for Heidi to use so it wouldn't be so loud. They really seemed to work. She just sat and stared up at the sky.