another fourth of July: come and gone..

Normally, on the Fourth of July, Mark and I head to the great outdoors. For the past several years we have been camping on some property deeded to the families that live on his parent's street. This year, however we were thwarted by meth heads. have I explained this before? Maybe not. While the families have access to the lake lot, the road to get the their is a public road, meaning we can't really put up a gate. Last year when we went, we had about 7 or 8 tents set up, a netted gazebo for food and another one for coolers. It was wonderful, except for the riffraff that showed up. Since the property is TVA's, we can't really kick them out. We must share. This effectively put a stop to the times before when Mark could leave me alone down there while he drove over the hill to use his parents bathroom. This year, we tried to enlist the help of some people on the street to put up a gate. We found a loophole in the agreement and found a way to do it. No one wanted to help though. In the end, time ran short and we had to forgo our usual camping trip. We are hoping to get a gate built sometime this summer.


We didn't let this dishearten our fireworks experience in the least. If you have ever done fireworks with Mark, his family, or anyone who lives on their street, you would know that the Ellis' celebrate the Fourth of July like most people celebrate Christmas. BIG! Here is a picture of Mark and Eric returning from Bimbo's with their loot. There was also another box, bigger, full of mortars. : ) like I said. BIG.
On Saturday morning I made the trip to Bill and Beth's to help them get ready for their "throw down" Kyle's 21st Birthday started at midnight, and Beth turned 50 this year, so they thought they would really THROWDOWN! Bill deep fried 2 turkeys and smoked 4 Boston Butts. Beth and I Picked them and got the food ready for that night. I wish I had more pics of the spread, but I was running around like a mad woman trying to get everything ready, so there was no time for photos! I did manage to get one of Bill playing Corn Hole though!

I also figured out the fireworks setting on my Camera. It turned out pretty good, if I do say so myself. BANG!BOOM!CRASH!POW!

The best one I captured all night long. Thanks honey, (and Eric and Joey and JT) for another amazing fireworks show. They were amazing and fantastic!

After the fireworks, Mark drove me and JT home, where we met up with Joey and Jane to hang out for a bit. We got home just in the nick of time, because it started pouring when we pulled into the driveway! Today Mark and I recovered by eating subway, watching movies and napping on the couch. Today also started our countdown to the beach! Exactly 8 weeks from today, my toes will be in sand!