Independence Day

Yesterday was the Fourth Of July. It was a fun day but not what I had expected or planned. But as I'm always one for impromtu changes, I go with the flow and things seem to work out. I think if I were ever stranded on a desserted island, I would survive out of the sheer ability to adapt to my surrounding conditions. I had planned a great day for us to go to the church breakfast, head over to the Fairfax Parade and then to Lake Anna for a day of swimming in Virginia's second largest lake. Here's what really happened. I got up and decided I wanted to sleep in for once so I missed the ward breakfast. From there, we zipped over to the Fairfax parade (at least something stayed on schedule) but got there about 5 minutes prior to the parade starting and had to squeeze into the sea of people. Again, I adapt because I'm one that's not always overly prepared. We didn't bring chairs because we knew there wouldn't be room to put them. We watched the parade in humid splendor and the kids kept asking "When are we leaving?" My goal of creating a down-home 4th of July was not being received so well. We left the parade hot, sweaty and ready for a nap. Rob was sleeping (worked the night before). We woke him up and everyone dawned swimsuits for our foray at the lake. We drove 1-1/2 hours (much longer than I expected it to take) and got to Lake Anna just in time for the lifeguards to call everyone out of the water. It was thundering. We hadn't been on the beach more than 2 minutes. So we couldn't go in the water. I took the liberty of liberally applying sunscreen to all participants so that they would have time to marinate prior to entering the water. However, our dream to swim was short-lived. The clouds continued to move in. I of course had to take the kids to the restroom. I don't understand why kids have to use every bathroom of every building or place we go to. And when one has to go, they all suddenly have to go. And the bathrooms were a dreaded place. But we came out to see our posse of family waiting for us with chairs in hand. We packed up, got in the van and went off to return home. The trip started with the rain crashing down, lightening dancing through the skies and tree branches smacking into the windshield left and right. We stopped for gas and decided to hunker down at a Cracker Barrel for dinner until the rain stopped. On our way home, we made the last minute decision to go to the fireworks show at Fairfax Highschool. We were still in swimming attire but again, adaptation wins the race. We brought umbrellas, set up our chairs again and watched a magnificent fireworks show, completely open sky, as the rain poured down. Even with the rain, it still was a great show. A memorable Fourth, despite the downfalls, or rather---rainfalls.