This Party Is Your Party

First of all, Happy Fourth of July to all of my American readers!

Second, have I had a long day. It didn't start out that way. In fact, it began like any other Sunday. I slept in, wrote in my journal, read a chapter or two of The Tale of Briar Bank, and put on the Brunch With the Beatles show on WOGL. (Ringo Starr, whose birthday is on the 7th, was in the spotlight today.) I made blueberry pancakes and tried calling Mom; I never did get her.

My stomach's been feeling a little upset for some reason today. Maybe it was the hot dog yesterday. After spending some time online, I decided to walk over to the CVS on the White Horse Pike and buy a few rolls of Tums.

I strolled by Dad and Uncle Ken's house just in time to see Dad and Jodie pulling out of the driveway. They were on their way to Jodie's son's new apartment in Philadelphia. They told me that Jessa would drive me up to our cousin Samantha and her family's 4th of July party. When I went inside to confirm this with Jessa, she said she wasn't going until 3 or 4; she wanted to take a nap. Uncle Ken and Dolores would take me.

I ran to CVS and bought Tums, then ran home, packed up my bathing suit, and grabbed the Strawberry-Blueberry Pie I made a few days ago. I did ride up to Chew's Landing with Uncle Ken, Dolores, and Dolores' grandchildren Mercedes (10) and Blake (6). I enjoyed the ride, but it wasn't without incident. We mostly took the Black Horse Pike. There was traffic around Runnemede. Uncle Ken tried to take a shortcut, but it took a while. Dolores fussed at him, and then fussed at her grandchildren when they kept doing the "punch buggy" thing and raising their voices. I was quite happy when we all finally arrived at Sam's.

I spent most of the afternoon in the pool, keeping an eye on the kids. Samantha asked me to be the lifeguard, since I was already in there, and I agreed. The older kids - Mercedes, Sam's two boys Ethan and Matt, and a couple of cousins whose names I didn't catch - attempted various games, with much splashing and yelling. One was "Ultimate Marco Polo" (which seemed to just be not saying "polo" and jumping on everyone). The other was "Diddle," which made a bit more sense. The kids jumped into the pool and tried to find an object at the bottom, then would have to yell "Diddle!" when they claimed it.

I went back and forth between the older kids and little Faith and another cousin, a young lady by the name of Emma. Naturally, the little girls were much quieter. Emma #2 couldn't have been any more than 6 or 7, and Faith is just 4. She's still learning to swim, so she didn't leave the steps. We did enjoy pretending to be mermaids and admiring pretty leaves in the pool.

We ate around 3 (which was also when Jessa appeared). There was a ton of food - burgers, chicken, hot dogs, shredded pork, pasta salad, potato salad, rolls, baked beans. I had a burger, shredded pork (with Sam's tasty home-made barbecue sauce), pasta salad (also Sam-made, and really good - I loved the flower-shaped pasts she used), and a little bit of potato salad. (I'm not really a potato salad fan.) There was even more later. Karen and Jim brought corn, and someone else brought seafood. I did have a bit of corn later, but I wasn't up for the seafood.

Everyone went back in the pool for another hour or so. I happened to go inside with Mercedes to use the bathroom when I noticed that some of the desserts had been set out. We were hungry from swimming and went back outside to ask if we could have them. The other adults said yes, and I went and told the other kids...which lead to a stampede into the kitchen! Samantha was pretty mad when she found a gaggle of kids (and one hungry adult) dripping all over her kitchen floor. She yelled at her sons and shooed us all out. I felt a little bad for telling them and making such a mess, but Sam would say it was ok later. They just had to dry off next time.

I had cupcakes, sugar cookies, and a huge slice of Blueberry Crumble Pie I couldn't finish. After that, I didn't really feel like going back in the pool. I was getting tired. I talked to Dad and Jodie (who had arrived around 3:30-4) and everyone else out in the backyard for a while, then changed and read The Tale of Briar Bank.

Samantha and a few other adults had joined the kids in the pool area by then, deciding that a dip would be refreshing on a hot day. The remaining older boys (Uncle Ken and Dolores had taken their brood home), wired by too much sugar, were really getting crazy. They started having "ninja" fights and hitting each other with their foam noodle toys, doing cartwheels and sliding all over the place like they were in The Matrix. Samantha and I told them "cut it out" several times, but they wouldn't listen until David finally stepped in.

Dad, Jodie, and I were just about done at that point, anyway. I went home with them around 5:30-quarter of 6. Rose, Craig, and their 4-month-old son Khai arrived shortly after we did. I chatted with Rose and Jodie in the pool area for a while. Khai is getting so big and plump! He loves looking at trees. I held him for a little while, but he decided to try to get milk from my chest!

I was going to watch the Collingswood Fireworks at Veteran's Park. I hiked all over the park with the dolls and could not find a vantage point from which I could see the fireworks well, plus there was a lot of litter in the areas around the river. I then tried walking over to Newton River Park, but I didn't get any further than Dad's. I was way too tired.

I ended up joining Dad, Jodie, Craig, Rose, and Khai on the flat roof next to Jessa's room. I got really nervous getting out there. The window was so small, and I'm such a big person! I did eventually make my way out. We watched the gorgeous fireworks together until Khai decided he'd had enough noise and got fussy. Rose, Craid, and Dad went back in, and Jodie and I watched the last of the fireworks together.

(I don't know what Jodie's hurry was. She must have said "here's the grand finale" at least five times during the course of the show. The Collingswood Fireworks always take a while. And then she thought the actual finale was the beginning of the Penn's Landings show! There's always a gap between the two shows.)

I watched a couple of holiday-related cartoons when I got in. American patriot Bugs Bunny fights (Yosemite) Sam the Hessian soldier in the Looney Tunes classic Bunker Hill Bunny.

Donald Duck agrees to set up a romantic nighttime picnic in front of the fireworks for Daisy in the 1999 Mickey Mouse Works short Donald's Failed Fourth. However, he doesn't count on a recalcitrant picnic blanket, chairs that would rather join the Kentucky Derby, and his own bad sense of direction to cause trouble!

The Pink Panther finds himself playing Paul Revere in Pinky Doodle. He's been ordered to send papers on America's impending freedom to everyone in Boston...if the Loyalist horse he's riding will let him! (Incidentally, this cartoon seems to have been re-released in 1978 under the title Yankee Doodle Pink, which is on the same set.)