Independence Day

Being a native village, I always found it odd how we make such a big deal out of Independce Day. Why would we celebrate when the whole reason the forefathers had land to claim was because they took it from natives? We don't look it at that way, though. The majority of our men, and some of our women, have grown up to serve in the military. We've lost some good men to war over the years and we are proud of each and every one of them. That's what we celebrate. The pride we have in our own to stand up for their country and give their lives so that those left behind can live happy and free.

When it comes to celebrating, we sure know how to throw a party! The entire town pulls together and we have a huge celebration that lasts all day long. At least a dozen booths are set up by people who sell food and toys. You can buy anything from a whoopie cushion to a shish-ka-bob to a deep-fried Snickers bar. There are races and contests for all ages. Here's Mykayla running in her race. You gotta love her curly hair! :o)

Here's Lucione waiting for them to say "GO!" so she can dive into her watermelon. She didn't place but she had a lot of fun trying and got a free watermelon out of the deal, too! One thing our town does, is give a dollar to everyone who enters a contest. Just for standing on the starting line, you get a dollar. Winners get ten, second place gets seven, and third place gets five dollars. I think that's pretty cool. To some of these kids, the one little dollar means a lot!

Here's Theodore in the orange shirt. This race is called the Duck Walk. Other races and contests included: a slow bike race (where the last person to cross the finish line was the winner), tug-of-war, the sand pit (where the littlest kids get to dig in the sand and whatever coins they find, they keep), the egg-in-spoon race (where you carry a raw egg in a plastic spoon...first one to cross the finish line with their egg still intact wins), the egg toss (play catch and get further apart after each toss...last one to break their egg wins), an apple peeling contest for the guys, a nail driving contest for the gals, and a three-legged race.

Here's Alexys in her three-legged race. Her friend's name is Hannah. They've entered as partners since they were old enough for the race and they win every year. I don't have any pictures of Lindsey in races because she got side-tracked by the water and spent her day swimming. She tries to blame it on the other kids saying, "They threw me in 7 times!" But I just told her, "Well, you must have enjoyed it because you stuck around and kept going back for more!" haha I'm glad she enjoyed herself. Normally she's pretty competetive so it was good for her to just hang out and have fun for a change.

Once all the contests are completed, we take a little break and then gather at the breakwater for a fireworks display. This years were really good. The VFD did an excellent job with thim this year (and I'm not just saying that 'cause the majority of them are family!). Everyone was pleased. Once the town fireworks were done, Michael and I followed our nephew John (Mykayla and Craig's dad) out to the other end of the island and he let us watch him light his own. There were a lot of people out there and we could see all of their fireworks as well. We had a lot of fun. So much, that we didn't stop till nearly 2AM! When we finally gave up, we cleaned up our area and stopped at the dump on the way back into town to get rid of the garbage. We pulled into our driveway at 2:10 AM. It was a long, exhausting, but totally fun day!

I can't wait till August 7th to do it all over again. :o)