the 4th

You can blame my sister for this post.

She called and complained to me about my lack of posting

That she's been waiting and waiting and waiting, just like Godot, for some sort of update.

And then I go and post some nonsense about how Aaron and I have been married for 11 years and she thought that was lame.

So I'm going to show her.

I'm going to post all the photos from the 4th just so that she has something to do when she checks the Internet in the morning.

Get ready for an overload of the Smith Family.

This is how the Kilt-o-Sac of Fire begins.

A modest chalk circle.

With flames added to it for flare.

Ba-dum-tsh.

It takes awhile.

Aaron's a good doodler. He can't put that on his resume, but it's still really cool to me 'cause he can make awesome chalk drawings of my name.

This kid could not wait for the tank war to commence.

The 4th of July must have homemade ice cream.

And this is how the cups are managed.

And just how random the pictures in this post are, random chalk drawing goes on all day long until nothing is left but tiny stubs of chalk.

The food is always good. Especially when you try and sneak some without anyone noticing.

Many a' folks have sat their bums on the front porch to have the annual photo taken of who has made the trek for the Kilt-o-Sac of Fire.

Aaron was the triggerman this year.

The one shot of him looking at the camera with his eyes open....

Finally the children's pyro dreams come true and the lighting of fireworks begins.

We start it off with a smoke bomb salute.

Snakes have become a family favorite. Maybe it's because we dump about a million of them altogether and light them up.

The kids got a kick out of our using this Poopy Puppy to light the pile.

The homemade ice cream goes perfectly with Aunt Dorie's Blackberry Pie.

Oneil's happy 'cause he's been shoving food in his mouth all day.

Time for the Tank War.

The more, the better.

But the tricky part is trying to light them all with the least possible burning of the hands.

Why is it so cool?

She's the fairest of them all.

The rule is that any and all fireworks lit, must be lit in the inner circle. It helps to keep the chaos contained.

This is his 8th Kilt-o-Sac of Fire. He was born on the 3rd and so he watched his first 4th of July from the hospital windows.

Brother-in-law, Scott. Probably thinking if he has room for one more piece of pie.

Taking her turn lightin' it up.

She loves it.

So does he.

So do I.

This one...well, he's special.

If you listen real close, you can almost hear him explaining what the last firework sounded like as it flew up in the air.

The rubble.

Lily on the left. Lylia on the right.

Then right before 10 o'clock, we head over to the park where our picnic blanket has been saving our spot all day.

The photographers set-up their set-ups on the hill.

Fireworks are fun to watch.

 Okay Lael, now you can go check your facebook. Love you more than chocolate cake.