Independence Day Post-Script

We haven't yet taken Lauren to see nighttime fireworks on the Fourth of July. It's partly due to the fact that even at age 5, she doesn't do well when kept up past 8 p.m. She's such a bundle of nonstop action from 6 a.m. until she passes out around 7:30 p.m. that as much as she wants to stay up, none of us would enjoy the inevitable meltdown, followed by at least one middle of the night wake up from being so overtired.

Lauren begged to stay up late this year so she could see our next door neighbors set up their stash of illegal fireworks in the street. Since we didn't think it would happen until at least 9 p.m., we hesitantly declined her pleas. However, next year I've promised her we will go to my parents' house at the top of a hill in Laguna, where, if the weather cooperates and coastal fog doesn't roll in, she will see amazing fireworks shows from 3 cities along the coast. Then we can put her to bed right there.

That's not to say we didn't see a little firework action this year. Daddy brought home sparklers and a single firework called the "Cricket."

Lauren loved the sparklers, and was appropriately cautious about not wanting to hold them herself. I was more than happy to assist.



Then Norm lit the Cricket. Before he did, I asked him what type of firework it was. He said it pretty much would look like a sparkler, just a little larger, when it went off.

We waited on the sidewalk with anticipation as he lit the fuse.



And yes, it actually did resemble a really large sparkler in terms of its appearance.



One thing that wasn't anticipated, however. The. Frickin. Noise. Oh, what a racket this thing made. You hear the word cricket and you think soft chirping, right? Hah. This cricket must have been on crack, because it sounded like multiple M-80s going off. For 2 minutes straight.


[Norm's face says it all]

All the neighbors ran out of their homes just as Lauren was hightailing it as fast as she could back into ours, her little hands covering her ears. The silver lining to the surprise of the Cricket was that Lauren lost all interest in staying up to see the fireworks on the street. So we all got a fairly decent night's sleep. Now that's something you can whistle Dixie to.