July 4th, M&M Style

We've got so many fun pictures that I put in a slide show at the end of the post rather than going through the painstaking process of individually posting them. We always have fun on the 4th of July, but this year's was just jam-packed with fun. Not that we did anything very out of the ordinary for your typical Independence Day, our family just has our own little spin on these 4th o' July holiday activities.

Activity #1: Going to the family cabin.
M&M Family Twist: Going to the family cabin to join a group of 50 family members and swinging on the most massive swing imaginable.
Mike's grandparents have a cabin in Lamb's canyon. They also have 10 children, who now have many children of their own, so even with only some of the family up there, we make for a big group. There's also a swing attached to a couple of trees on a hill, on a very very long chain. In order to push the person on the swing up to the highest height, the pusher gets the person going, then, on an upswing at the highest point, grabs the swingers belt/pants, jumps, and uses his weight to propel the swinger forward again. There's a picture of Nick pushing Mike this way. You'd have to experience it to really appreciate it. I don't even let Mike push me as hard as he can, because it scares me too much.

Activity #2: Playing with water balloons.
M&M Family Twist: Playing the game "500" with water balloons.
I don't know if Mike's family made up this game or not, so let me explain. In 500, everyone gets up on the trampoline and another person, on the ground, throws a football and everyone tries to catch it, jumping and bumping into each other. Points are accumulated and once you hit 500, you're the thrower. I (Mary) usually don't play because it tends to get rough on the trampoline with Mike, Nick, Conner, and whoever else is around all smashing into each other trying to catch a football. But the water balloon version, although wetter, was less smash-y, so after snapping the pictures, I joined in. Jenny got soaked, Mike stayed dry, and the rest of us were somewhere in between. Mike's cousin Matt was there too (with his little boys Mason and Logan). Fun times.

Activity #3: Fireworks
M&M Family Twist: Barbie-Q and firework fountain dunking.
The Barbie-Q tradition started a few years ago, and until this year, got bigger and better every year (this year was smaller due to lack of as many people, less fireworks, and inability to get any bigger without summoning the fire department). It consists of a circle of tanks (fireworks shaped like tanks that shoot sparks) surrounding a barbie who is sitting amidst a pile of crackle balls and whips. Last year I think we had something like 40 tanks and the blaze was massive. It takes a good half a dozen people just to light them all (very quickly). This year's was low-key however.
Firework fountain dunking is also a sight to behold. The boys take a fountain and place it under the basketball hoop (which is lowered), light it, and proceed to dunk over the sparks. It's gotta be a guy thing, because I have never once had the desire to participate (I'm the designated picture-taker), and I really just don't get it. But they love it, and I think they love the pictures almost as much, or more, than actually doing it, since in some of them they actually look like they're on fire. (No one actually gets hurt or burned though, FYI, or I would definitely have a problem with it! :) )

And now, without further ado, on to the pictures!