The 4th of July holiday began on the 3rd for my family, who does fireworks the right way–staking out the best spot a few hours early, bringing a cooler of snacks and a trunk full of drinks (mudslides…mmmm) we’d discreetly sip from red Solo cups. About an hour after we settled in there, I surprised Jax with a spontaneous visit from his best friend. I’m sure it was one of the best days of my son’s life so far, since it began with some alone time with Daddy at a museum and ended with a visit (and fireworks) with his best friend. The memory of their reunion (after 27 hours apart!) is etched into my mind forever, that’s how cute it was!

And so are these images of them watching the fireworks together:

The boys exhausted themselves with play until about 10:00 pm, when the fireworks display ended and we went home. Jax was asleep in no time at all, leaving me with my thoughts of how to physically exhaust this child every night so he sleeps well!

The next day, we swam at my brother’s house for a few hours before heading home to grill with a friend. My brother and his wife invited us back to their house at dark to watch fireworks from their yard & roast marshmallows (thanks, Twitter, for confirming it’s “roast” and not “toast”). It would be a first for Jax, who hasn’t yet experienced the fun of a gooey marshmallow stuck to his face!

As we were packing up to head back to my brother’s at 7:00, the serpentine belt on my car broke. Needless to say, this ruined my mood entirely. So in a brilliant moment, I posted on Facebook that I needed help and I dropped the boys off to my brother’s house to have fun without me. Moments later, two of my family members called my cell, offering help. A few minutes after that, a few of my friends texted me with offers, as well.

I let the wave of gratitude wash over me and change my mood.

Sure, the car problem ruined the last 2 hours of my holiday and I missed out on Jax making s’mores, but I felt so much love for and from my family and friends and appreciation for them that it was worth losing 2 hours and $20.

And when I finally did get home at 9:45, Jax went right to sleep, so it still ended up being a pretty great night.