Detours off Britta Blvd

The 4th annual Fireworks & Fun was a full week ago on the 4th of July of course...my first party in my new kitchen! We had 26 adults, 2 toddlers & 2 dogs, so a good-sized crowd with plenty of room for everyone to have a great view from the lawn. The traffic & parking were worse because so many other local cities had canceled their festivities this year, and the fireworks might have been a slightly shorter show, but more than made up for it with the amazing finale...wow! The weather was perfect again this year, with a nice breeze making all my flags fly nicely, but due to my kitchen chaos barely being settled enough less than 24 hours to party start time, it was all-hands on deck getting the food ready!

( Fireworks & Fun 2009! )



Ready for fireworks!


When the last guests had left around 2am, I didn't even soak any party dishes, since I used Sunday as the true test of my new dishwasher...even the baked brie platter and an unrinsed gooey jam jar got sparkling clean, so it really is as good as they told me! I also enjoyed my new giant copper sink, since I was able to wash my big punch bowl and my tall lemonade jar without splashing! :D

I see now that I was bad at taking photos of people this year, and there are no photos of me at all, but that was because I was actually sitting down enjoying myself instead of roaming! The full photo album is here if you'd like to see. I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth!

This weekend was Year 3 for Fireworks & Fun, which is still lots of fun and awesome fireworks! There were 30 people total again plus Gus the Greyhound, this time including 5 babies, 2 toddlers & 2 tweens, which was a good-sized crowd. Everyone stayed through the fireworks which were fabulous. Thankfully it was cooler this year, with a nice breeze making all my flags fly appropriately, and with Kaelyn's help around 3pm, we were able to get all the food ready before most of the guests arrived! Thank you so much, Kaelyn!

( Fireworks & Fun 2008! )





When the fireworks were over, my knees & ankles didn't want me to stand anymore so I pulled up a chair to chat. After the others had left, Cyd, Robin, Charles & I were still talking so George starting cleaning up & bringing things in from the yard, then everyone brought all the food in from the patio so I could put stuff away, but I told them I needed to sit down a bit before I could tackle them! It was probably around midnight when they left, then after my break I put away the food to save, soaked everything that could be soaked, and washed the serving platters and things that couldn't soak anywhere, since my legs kept saying JUST SIT DOWN! ;) It was a fabulous time with fun friends & great food, but my legs were still sore after a full night's sleep!

The full photo album is here if you'd like to see. I hope everyone had a fabulous Fourth!

Current Location: Brittahytta

Since the first Fireworks & Fun party last year was so successful, even though we had the choir competition all weekend AND I'm hosting a giant Hogwarts party in a couple weeks, I decided I could still have a 4th of July potluck BBQ since the view of the fireworks are so great from my yard. 30 people had fun this year, which included 3 small kids, and 6 people did leave before the fireworks started, but still felt like less throughout the party than the 25 people last year...weird! Even Gus the Greyhound came, got dressed up in patriotic style to match Kylie the Kitty, and was completely calm during the whole fireworks show - what a good dog!



( Fireworks & Fun 2007! )

Those who hadn't seen these fireworks before were impressed at such a great show with so many fireworks & such a great view from my yard! Even those who came last year thought these might have been better...the finale was truly blinding! There were several illegal fireworks in the neighborhood, but thankfully not next door like last year. My illegality was restricted to sparklers, and we had a bucket of water handy, so that was fun & safe...just don't tell on me please! ;)

Most decided to leave & brave the hideous traffic right away, but Nathania & Kevin were so nice in staying after everyone else left to help me clean up - thank you SO much! All the food was put away by the time they left around midnight, then I finished all the dishes by around 1am, so all that's left is to clean up the yard when I can see it, then undecorate to jump right in to decorating for Hogwarts...!

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July! My photo album is here if you'd like to see! :)

Current Location: at work

Happy 4th of July everyone!

About a month ago I got a city newsletter that mentioned a big event at the city park, ending with a fireworks display. That's the park only one block away from my house, so I thought for sure we could see fireworks from my house, so I tried to have a low-key, small BBQ potluck so I wouldn't be killing myself just one week after the big concert when I was already exhausted. Well, my low-key small BBQ potluck was still 25 of us, but that was a very manageable amount and we all had a great time! One friend said "one of the best 4th of Julys I've had!" Hooray! :D


Fabulous Fireworks From My Backyard!!! :D

( Food, Glorious Food! )

( Great official fireworks show, but the neighbors' illegal fireworks were a bit too close for comfort... )

( Parking was awful but everyone had a blast... )

The full gallery is here if you'd like to see all the photos...

Hope everyone else had a Fabulous Fourth!


P.S. For those curious, here are my patriotic layered drink recipes I created especially for this party:

( Razzle-Dazzle-Tini )

( Virgin Razzle-Dazzle-Tini )

Current Location: Brittahytta