I’m not sure exactly how it started, but somehow July 4th has become one of the biggest holidays of the year that we celebrate. It wasn’t that way when I was a kid – we usually found some fireworks to watch, often last-minute and I can remember at least one occasion where we ended up driving around looking for a show to watch even as they were starting. We never wore anything in particular and for us kids the most exciting part of the 4th was getting to light sparklers and writing in the sky with them.

Somewhere along the line July 4th has turned into a weekend full of friends, activities, fireworks, and even a birthday. And I wouldn’t have it any other way – it’s one of my absolute favorite times of the year. In no small part because it’s one of the very few times where my two closest friends and I get to hang out nowadays.

Over the years, we’ve gone from watching fireworks along Lake Michigan to spending the evening across town (watching them on July 3rd instead of the 4th), to for the past couple of years taking the afternoon and evening to hang out here in town and join in the local festivities even before it gets dark out. We’ve added boyfriends and then husbands to the mix – and now 8 kids between the three of us as well.

From July 4th of 1997…

(Kristi and I, back in our pre-kid days)

…to 1998…

(The whole ‘gang’ – me, Kristi and Steve, Mary and Dave with Matthew)

…1999…

(adding in Ron along with friends Chris and Jean)

…2000…

(minus Mary and Dave that year)

…and 2001.

(still no Mary and Dave, but adding in baby Abby)

In 2002, Kristi and Steve celebrated Noah’s birth on July 4th…

And in 2003 the ‘gang’ was back together for Noah’s first birthday party.

Since then, us girls have gotten together every year – sometimes with husbands, sometimes not. Dave and Ron often work the holiday, but we gather as many of us as we can and hang out for fun, food, and fireworks. And a birthday celebration, of course. 

Like in 2005…

…2006…

 (Not sure why the group photos went by the wayside – too many kids to corral probably)

…2007…

 (minus Mary and her kids that year)

…and last year.

What will this year’s July 4th weekend bring? We’ll find out starting today when Mary and her kids arrive.

And I, for one, can’t wait to get everyone all together again. 

(all pregnant together – 3rd trimester, 2nd trimester and 1st trimester – in 2002)