Fourth of July on July Third

Paul's sister, Janalyn, and her family were going to be leaving before July 4th and miss the festivities, so we decided to do some of our own fireworks on the 3rd before they left.

Claire loved the different colored sparklers. I thought she would be scared of them and that Rachel would like them. Boy, was I wrong. Claire definitely did not take after me in her love of sparklers - while I like them now, as a little girl, they were scary and my favorites were the "worms" that left black stains all over the driveway.
Landon cruised on the trike while Kaylen and Claire checked out the sparklers.
Of course the "pink" sparklers were her favorite!
Rachel wasn't quite sure what to think at first......
but quickly realized she did not like fireworks!! She screamed and held on for dear life. I had to take her inside away from all the noise and festivities.
The crowd waits anxiously for the "big ones" Paul was setting off.
Sometimes, the noise is just a bit much. Landon wasn't much of a fan of the fireworks.