Fireworks and Festivities

I am copying this picture from here.

I went to a fireworks show on July 2nd, saw them from my house on July 3rd, and went to another show on July 4th. It has been a festive weekend. I wanted to post a picture of fireworks, but looking through some google image pictures, I realized that they all seemed very beautiful but weird to me. Fireworks don't stay in one place like that. They appear and they dazzle and then they are gone. I would say that fireworks are definitely something that can't be captured in their true essence in a picture. While the pictures are incredible, they don't capture the summer heat, the immediacy of the fireworks, the mosquitoes, the loud body-shaking bangs and the high-pitched shrieks of the fireworks as they shoot into the air. The picture I used is one I like because it feels like you are right under the fireworks, just like my experience tonight and last year as I sat almost directly under the fireworks. Last year we were both watching the fireworks and watching the little pieces coming down all around us. This year there weren't so many ashes falling.

Today I went on a flag-hunt wagon walk with my kiddos. They waved their flags singing their toddler rendition of "Wavin' Flag" by K'Naan. Super cute. We played in the water fountain and played with our flags and had a grand old time. How do you explain the concept of a country to little ones? And how do you explain that a place has a birthday? I didn't go into the details because they were happy waving their little flags obliviously. But someday I want to explain more about this nation.