Riverfest | CT Photographer

It’s been a few years since we’ve been able to see fireworks.  We usually spend the 4th of July on the Vineyard, and getting to the fireworks from where the house is involves traveling across the island, battling masses of traffic and then getting smooshed by the crowd in order to be able to see them.  In our younger years, we saw it as an adventure – but being pregnant one year, then with an eight month old the following year, and then a toddler plus a newborn the year after that, we’ve foregone the festivities.  It just so happened this year that we were leaving on the 4th, and as we drove home late that night, I dozed in the passenger seat.  C would wake me up here and there to point out the fireworks on the horizon of the highway and I’d smile and nod in sleepy bliss before quickly falling back asleep.

Imagine our excitement when we found out that the Hartford fireworks were scheduled for this past weekend, and we’d finally be able to see them.  We were excited and planned the night with our neighbors who have a hook up to possibly the best seat in the city.  We kept the kids up late, and got ice cream on the way.  I expected P2 to fall fast asleep in the car, but he had other plans.  It was L.A.’s first fireworks experience, and we were fairly certain it would go one of two ways – he would love it or be terrified.  Sweet Girl came with us and excitedly talked it up to L.A. on the ride there.

We started out with sparklers, and L.A. had an unfortunate run in with a just extinguished sparkler that has had him saying “the little firework bit me on my thumb” for the past few days.  Then we settled into our chairs to watch the display.

Sadly, the sparkler incident combined with it being two hours past his bed time put a damper on L.A.’s first fireworks show, and he spent the majority of the evening snuggled into C’s shoulder.

S.G. watched as the fireworks rained down from the sky, with the wide eyed awe only a child can have.

Then we packed everyone up and drove home in the darkness, eventually lugging three sleeping children upstairs to their cozy beds.  The next morning L.A. crawled into our bed, slung his smooth toddler arm over me and said “Mommy?” I opened my eyes to a very serious face and he looked solemnly at me and said “I don’t like fireworks”.

Maybe next year….