Happy Fourth of July! It’s been a busy week of patriotic activity for the Johnson Family as the sweltering hot days of mid-summer come bearing down on us. I kicked things on Tuesday by walking up the street to vote for Mike Flood in a special election, making him our Congressman until November, when we have the chance to vote for him again.

I also rode my bike three times this week (even when it rained on Friday), hoping to save some money on gas and get a little exercise. I stopped by Banner Park for a little quality time on the spray-ground with the kids, where we had a water fight, dumping bottles of water on each other for an hour or so. I also got a photo of the kids next to the neighboring cornfield to see how much the little stalks had sprouted up in less than a month. Afterward, we met up with Jack and Donna at the gas station, where Jack let us get $1 off per gallon as we topped off our tanks. We had to form a queue by one pump, handing it off from one to another as we filled up.

Then on Friday, I got some free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A before biking off to work in the rain. I wore my patriotic tie, as we had a fun little Fourth of July cookout in the parking lot over the noon hour. We had burgers and hot dogs along with a few games and giant bubbles to keep us busy before heading back to work.

Then on Friday evening, we took the kids down to Lake Manawa for some swimming and fireworks. We brought along a few pool noodles for the kids as we all splashed about for a couple of hours together. We also met Joe Shearer, a photographer for The Daily Nonpareil in Council Bluffs, who took a photo of Hannah and Aaron than managed to make the front page a few days later.

We had a few snacks after the sun went down and then watched a lovely fireworks show from across the lake, which was particularly beautiful with the reflections in the water. Then we got into our car to squeeze our way out of the parking lot to head home.

Hannah went to a friend’s birthday party on Saturday, and I took Aaron by my parents’ house to visit and learn about some family history. He’d asked about his Great-Great-Grandmother Augusta Johnson and whether she were alive during the Civil War, so we showed him a while spreadsheet and family tree my dad had put together displaying a handful of his ancestors, when they were brown, and when they moved from Sweden to the United States in the last century or two.

Then that evening, we had some Wagyu burgers for dinner (50% off at Aldi) before heading down to the SumTur Amphitheater (AKA the “movie park”). We accidentally arrived an hour early and spent some time exploring another part of the grounds, which appears to be getting prepared to be a veterans’ memorial at some point in the future. Then we got some popcorn when the sun went down and watched Disney’s Encanto together — learning at long last why they “don’t talk about Bruno.”

On Sunday, we visited First Presbyterian in Bellevue to see the kids sing a few of the songs they learned at VBS (which they’d been singing non-stop over the past week). Then that evening, we went up to Bennington for another “Third of July” party with Jenny and Kody and a bunch of our mutual friends. Vivian brought an American Flag Bean Dip, Frank brought a bucket of guacamole, and Kody made brat-burgers and smoked pork for dinner. I got a group photo of the kids together on the back lawn before the sun went down, getting a few shots of everyone holding (relatively) still for a few seconds in hopes they’ll enjoy looking back on it years down the road.

Then came a few hours of fireworks out front. Jon Paper and the kids got to set off a series of fountains, ground-flowers, Roman candles, a sparkling sword, and farting chicken balloons on the street. We also had plenty of artillery shells later to light up the sky. Hannah somehow decided her favorite were the “poops” that unwind like a snake on the ground, particularly using the soot to give herself a charcoal facial.

Then came the actual Fourth of July, a long, fun, and incredibly exhausting day. It started with the DCRP Pancake Breakfast down at Elmwood Park. I went with my both dad and Hannah to have some pancakes and sausage serviced up by Don Bacon and Bob Evnen, among many others. Deb Fischer was also there working the crowd, and she had a long chat with my dad about current events before I introduced her to my daughter. We also saw Mike Hilgers (our next Attorney General) and got to ask about a potential “special session” that may or may not be happening in the Legislature. There were many other VIPs on hand, including the Governor (and a former candidate) we said hello to while we were there.

There was also a car show going on in the parking lot out front, so I took Hannah by, where we got to see a few of the fancy cars on display. A few of the owners invited her to get a picture on the hood of an old Imperial and a patriotically-decked out Corvette. It was very sweet to see Hannah so enamored with classic cars, just like her mom. We also went on a brief, muddy walk past the Grotto, and Hannah had some fun handing our “lucky pennies” to a handful of people before we left.

We had a few hours to recover before heading back up to Ralston for a parade. We saw the usual parade crew of politicians, clowns, a priestly friend, and Shriners making they way down Main Street, and there was plenty of candy to go around for the kids as well. I brought water to keep us hydrated and we got some ice cream to cool off afterward before heading home.

I’d saved a spot under a shady tree on my way to Elmwood Park, since the forecast called for a high around 100 degrees. It was hot enough activate a few ambulances to make their way through the parade on actual calls to tend to people with heat stroke.

I grilled up some brats and baked beans for dinner that evening. Then we finished off the day with more fireworks at our house that evening. We set off a bunch of fountains, artillery shells, and other things to light up the sky on the street in front of our house. I broke out a few Bomb Pops to keep us cool, and our neighbors across the street had a show all their own with some “fire wheels” and grand finale toward ten o’clock. We also had a handful of sparklers to wave about together as I awkwardly tried snapping a couple photos (while holding one).

All four grandparents came by to watch on our driveway, along with Uncle Nathan, to watch the Rockets’ Red Glare as we brought a long, fun weekend to a close.