4th of July Photo Journal – Dive Club

I saw a meme on Facebook the other day saying something to the effect, 4th of July is over, it’s now time to get your Halloween costumes, your Thanksgiving menu, Christmas Presents, and we’re basically at the New Year, Happy 2020. Truthfully I might have giggled a little too much because… the way this year has been flying by, that almost seems real! Here we are 5 days past the 4th of July. Hello, July 9. We’re quickly approaching the dawg days of summer. It is finally getting hot and humid in Missouri. Yes, we have humidity. Yes, it’s horrible. You walk out of your house and feel like you’ve just walked out of the shower. It’s nuts.

Spring has been crazy around here. Tornadoes on top of tornadoes. Rain and flooding. Cooler temperatures… you name it, we’ve probably seen it. Except for a Hurricane. If we see a hurricane in Missouri, we have real problems. Did you know I’m only just a few hours away from the dead middle point of the U.S.? It’s up on the Kansas border near Nebraska. I’ve never been there although that’s on my list of things to do someday. Why not… 

I actually live in a part of Missouri where within 30 minutes you can be further into Missouri, into Oklahoma or Kansas or Arkansas. And there is a point over near here where you can be standing on the border of Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. 3 states in one swoop. Honestly, I’ve never been there either although I’ve always been within a mile or so of it. Why I never stop I have no idea.

This year because the 4th of July fell when it did, we got to celebrate twice. Once with our diver friends and again with my husband’s extended family. I overheard that some people think the 4th of July is only about bbq’s, fireworks, and spending time with family. That’s totally inaccurate. It’s about the birthday of our country. On July 4th, 1776 our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence freeing us from British control. It was only after a horrific battle called the Revolutionary War was fought and won. Just thought I’d throw that very broad, basic explanation out there for anyone who might be confused. Do they not teach that in schools anymore? Although the person who made the previous claim is closer to my age than not. I’m really confused.

4th of July

Let’s not focus on that confusion. Let’s set off some fireworks in honor of the United States of America’s 243rd birthday.

Most years at the dive club 4th of July party we just have hamburgers and hot dogs. This year hubby and Jared decided we should do something a little different. We did Gumbo and Jambalaya. Hubby was in charge of the gumbo and Jared took on the jambalaya. And here’s where I admit that my fingers got a little heavy with the a and spelled it jamabalaya. I think that’s what we should henceforth call it. haha.

Gumbo. Yum!

Jamabalaya (aka Jambalaya)… YUM! No idea where Jared found his recipe. He modified his… but I need a copy of it so that we can keep it on record for future endeavors because both of these were very good. Okay, that’s a hint to Jared that I need a copy of this recipe. :).

Then it was time to set up the fireworks. Every year we set them up on the gooseneck flatbed which is a good thing. Note this trailer floor is metal which is a good thing because we actually had a fire on the trailer about 30 minutes to an hour after we were done setting off the fireworks. It was kind of funny. By that point, the last few of us there got in the pool to cool off. It was muggy hot. And we watched the fire from the pool. It wasn’t going anywhere and wasn’t going to do any damage. It eventually put itself out. But I wasn’t worried because we had firefighters in our presence. 

Oh and don’t worry, we had hot dogs too for those who didn’t like the other. But the other was sooooooo yummy!

OMG, this chicka right here is about to give this mommy a BUNCH of gray hairs. She is a fish and not scared of water… which can be a good thing and a bad thing. She was doing flips off the diving board, trying to do dives, and just jumping off as seen here. A year ago at this time she was jumping off backward and slammed her face into the diving board and put a semicolon of a scar on her face right around her eye. This year she was trying to dive. UGH!

The neighbors just on the other side of the trees, we had a deal with them that we’d watch theirs, then they’d watch ours. We got 2 fireworks shows for the price of one. There were also fireworks to the other side of the property line that we got to watch while hanging out in the pool.