Saturday, July 4, 2020

Fourth of July Through the Years

Now that our boys and our grandchildren are grown we don't do much to celebrate Independence Day.  However, when they were young we always had a big family celebration.  Everyone would come over to our house and we would make homemade ice cream, have watermelon and barbecue something special to have for dinner along with homemade potatoe salad and lots of other goodies.  One of the highlights of the day was the fireworks.  There would be a few special daytime fireworks for the kids such as parachute rockets and poppers, all done safely by an adult.  When it got dark we lined up our outdoor chairs in the front yard to watch the nighttime fireworks.  Most of our neighbors also did fireworks so we all got to enjoy a shared neighborhood show. 


A two year old Annika testing the homemade ice crem
1998 - Annika testing out the homemade ice cream

2001 - Tom spraying the ribs with apple juice as they were being smoked

2003 - Gavin gets his first taste of barbecued ribs

2008 - Annika, her friend Becka and Gavin enjoy watermelon

2016 - Shish Kebabs on the grill
 
We don't do a big celebration any longer since it will just be Tom and myself here.  I do plan on having watermelon though as that is my holiday favorite!  We will also grill some steaks and have a nice dinner tonight.  Today is also a special day for my older brother, Charlie, as it is his 80th birthday!  Happy Birthday Charlie!

Happy Independence Day to all who celebrate it!



34 comments:

  1. Happy Independence Day! I love these pictures. I hope you have a nice day and enjoy the watermelon!

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    1. Thank you. You have a wonderful holiday too!

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  2. blogwalking from malaysia. follow here :)

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  3. Some lovely memories there Bonnie! Happy Independence Day to you and your family and an extra special day to your brother Charlie! :)

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    1. Thank you Simone! I hope you enjoy your weekend and that beautiful garden of yours!

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  4. Happy Fourth! And happy birthday to Charlie. When he was little I bet he thought the celebrations were all for Charlie's birthday!

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    1. Happy Fourth to you too! Yes he did think all the celebration was for his birthday. We always wanted to put firecrackers instead of candles on his cake but can you imagine our Mother wouldn't let us!

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  5. Happy Independence Day for you, and Happy Birthday to Charlie! The 4th of July is no special day in this country, but it is for me: On the 4th of July in the year 1999, I separated from my first husband, making it my very own personal Indipendence Day. It was a decision I have never regretted.
    Enjoy your watermelon - it's the best food ever for hot summer days! We love it as a salad with feta cheese and roast pine nuts, salt, pepper and olive oil.

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    1. Thank you and I hope you enjoy your personal Independence Day! That watermelon salad sounds good, I'll have to try it sometime.

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  6. Happy Independence day to you .

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    1. Thank you Red. I guess this is similar to your Canada Day. I hope you have a great weekend!

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    1. I hope you and Toby have a good weekend Joanne!

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  8. Love the pictures of celebrations of the past! You're right, after we are empty-nesters the celebrations often become much smaller.

    It makes a person a bit wistful, but at the same time, it's a lot less work. Or is that just me? I remember the point at which I realized *I* am now the family-dinner-provider, and knowing that never again can I just take myself (and my contribution to dinner) to someone else's house where everything has been cleaned, cooked, and laid out by that someone else. That was a rude awakening. lol

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    1. Yes, it is a lot less work and that part is okay! It is a big responsibility to be the one in charge of those holidays. My son and daughter-in-law have taken over Thanksgiving and we now have that at their house so things can change. We still do Christmas at our house and I love it but our family is about to outgrow the size of our house!

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  9. Replies
    1. Thank you and I hope you are having a nice weekend!

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  10. Hi Bonnie. Happy Birthday to your brother. I loved seeing the pictures of the kiddos and the watermelon. Priceless! Cheers and boogie boogie, Ivy.

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    1. Watermelon pictures are always fun since they are so colorful. I did have my watermelon today and it was a good one!

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  11. Happy birthday to your brother!
    And a happy 4th, too. :)

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    1. Thanks Rita. I hope you've had a good weekend!

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  12. Happy 4th of July! Hope you had a wonderful day!

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    1. Thank you Connie. We had a quiet day at home. Happy 4th of July to you!

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  13. Oh, Happy Birthday to Charlie! We didn't even do this much for the 4th. I did make Pink Stuff...you know cool whip, crushed pineapple, box of strawberry jello, and cottage cheese. We have both enjoyed it so much. I got a cantelope but Roger is not enjoying it.

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    1. Thank you Rose. That's funny, I used to make something the kids called Pink Stuff that was similar to that but with sweetened condensed milk instead of cottage cheese and a few other ingredients. The last cantelope I tried was not very good but I did get a really good watermelon for the Fourth.

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  14. I remember picnics and cookouts when I was a kid, but I can't say I've ever been much into celebrating July 4th. The private golf club in our town always did fireworks the Saturday before the 4th. We always looked forward to that.

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    1. I miss the time with family more than anything. When I was growing up it was always a special family time and we tried to make it that for our kids and grandkids as well.

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  15. I might have to have you ask Tom about the apple juice and ribs. Sounds yummy. Hope you had a nice time and it went well. We were fortunate to celebrate with family and friends. Take care.

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    1. Tom loves to grill and his smoked pork ribs are everyone's favorite. He first coats the ribs liberally with Tabasco sauce. (don't worry, they are not too hot - it's like a liquid rub) Then he smokes them about 5 or 6 hours. Once they start showing a little color he bastes them by spraying them with apple juice every half hour. In the final stage of cooking he adds barbecue sauce. We live in barbecue country here - Kansas City area.

      I'm so glad you were able to celebrate the holiday with family and friends! I hope you all had a wonderful time!

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    2. Please tell Tom to invite me over when he does ribs again. That sounds amazing. My plan is to get a smoker when summer is about to end and this is going to be one of the first recipes I try. Thank you.

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  16. What nice family photographs. I hope your brother enjoyed his 89th Birthday.

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    1. Thank you and thank you for visiting my blog!

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  17. Wonderful memories to cherish, Bonnie. :)

    Special times spent with very special people...I hope you and Tom enjoyed your 4th July, 2020. (I love watermelon!) :)

    Happy Birthday to Charlie, too...from me way down this way.

    Take good care. :)

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    1. Hi Lee, I hope you are doing well. I loved seeing your sweet furry babies!

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