A Recipe for an eventful weekend!

Ryan and I really like the 4th of July.  It celebrates the amazing freedoms our country enjoys and has fought hard for. 

We especially enjoy this holiday in the Midwest.  Here, one can typically count on beautiful summer weather, parades, grilling, get-togethers , and some serious fireworks.  I don't know what the laws are regarding the firepower allowed at fireworks displays, but lets just say that Ryan and I now might fall asleep to the fireworks displays we were accustomed to on the west coast.  The fireworks here are awesome!  And they happen in nearly every town, with many communities close together spacing their shows out over the days surrounding the holiday. Throw in the fact that the shows are unabashedly patriotic and thankful to our veterans and you have a really cool American weekend.

This particular 4th of July was a bit more eventful than normal, as you will see...
We began our weekend with:
30 pounds of pick your own strawberries
Mixed with
1 Tractor Ride and one lost toddler sandal
Followed by
2 Hours washing, drying, and hulling berries.  Placed in freezer for future jam making.

1 Yummy Cook-out with friends
12 Kids playing in a slip n slide
4 Guys (one older child) playing 2 on 2 basketball
6 Parents eating first (enjoying that rarity seeing as how soaking kids were not hungry)
This mixture becomes a late evening of bedtimes.
Suddenly top it off with the discovery that T has likely broken a finger from above mentioned recreation.
Now you have a very late night with a trip to the ER.
You may remember how we have done this before with T.
The ending result of this concoction is a severe sprain, possibly a buckle fracture, and a tape up.

Begin with a slow and tired morning (ignore the crankiness that appears in the pot from last night's cooking)
Now race off to church
Knead in a big thank you to the gracious sheriff who let a certain parent off without a well-deserved speeding ticket
Let rise with naps for all.
Stir in some biking and fishing.
Top with some small-town fireworks (population 2000) done in a HUGE way. 
Relish in the fact that you landed a spot for your blanket and giant bowl of homemade popcorn 25 yards from the launchers.
The result here is another late night, but much more enjoyable than Saturday's cooking

4th of July special:
Chores and laundry done in the morning (seriously, you can not go more than 3 days without doing some serious washing around here)
2 hours of slip-n-sliding
Zero broken bones
3 hours of playing at the lake
2 showers, much needed, each containing a few children
2 more showers, of the proper adult variety
5 exhausted children napping soundly
Burger buns made
1.5 pounds of burgers grilled up
One bonfire in our backyard
Many smores
Put PJ's on the little ones
Three mile car ride to another small-town (pop 10,000) fireworks show that makes you say, 'wow'!

Happy 4th to you all!