4th of July Pics

We had a fabulous time yesterday for the holiday (each year I don't have to rush Jerry to the ER is a good year), and we got tons of pictures to mark the occassion.

Here's Jerry and I in the afternoon for the "day time" fireworks. It was about 95 degrees out -- pretty much unbearable heat -- but Jerry and the other guys toughed it out in the name of explosives. Here's Jerry sharing snaps with some of the kids. He likes to ensure that they learn to appreciate the holiday for what it's meant for: Blowing things up.

For dinner, we had a fabulous Cajun-style shrimp and crawfish boil. Our chef, Ryan, prepared it all and then dumped the boil out on two long tables, and we all just chowed down with our fingers. It was awesome food!

Here I am about to sample my first crawfish. I discovered I'm not much of a fan. They're a lot of work for very little meat.

Scooter was a brave little dog this year and he spent most of the day and evening outside despite the loud, scary booms. (He wore himself out though because he slept until 10 am this morning!)

Scooter likes to monitor Jerry, so here he is supervising Jerry's early evening firework lighting.

Here I am shooting Roman Candles into the lake. That's a good profile of me at 35 weeks preggo.

As dusk descended, we began with the fountains. Later, when it was truly dark, the big fireworks made their debut.

Me, enjoying some sparklers.

Jerry and I toward the end of the night.

And, for the grand finale, here's a video of some of the "big" fireworks that we set off. Seriously, the firepower we had rivaled any small city. It was awesome! If you watch the video with the sound on, you'll hear me comforting Scooter, who was sitting in my ever-shrinking lap.