2011's 4th of July Weekend

It took us an entire weekend to celebrate America's 235th birthday! It began on Friday night when the Hill Ridge Crew (minus EmJ, plus the newlyweds Alex and Amber) came to our house for a cookout and redneck fireworks. That's what Independence Day is all about, y'all. Well, that and independence...

Saturday, Brad and I spent the afternoon at Cheekwood with Alex and Amber (A²), enjoying the beautiful gardens and the incredible, historic mansion.

When the fourth came around, A² and Brad and I dressed up in our most patriotic (read: tackiest) ensembles and made our second annual trip to Nashville's Hot Chicken Festival, "the only thing hotter than the 4th of July." My mouth is a big wimp, so the only thing I feasted upon was the free watermelon. Ah, summer... (PS. Doesn't that dog on my shirt look just like Chester?! Love it!)

This year, we decided to semi-avoid the massive down-town crowd for the city's fireworks display, so we camped out on the opposite side of the river. We only had to temporarily penetrate the chaos when we crossed the bridge to get some greasy delicious vendor food for dinner.

The boys played frisbee as we waited for the sun to go down, and the girls practiced blowing bubbles with our grape Bubblicious. We pretty much mastered the art by nightfall.

I have to admit, even though we had a pretty decent view of the fireworks and could hear the symphony's live broadcast over the car's radio, my heart was a little sad to not be right on the river like we were last year. It just wasn't the same. I couldn't feel the booms in my chest, and we couldn't see all of the ground display, and worst of all, we looked like dorks when we cheered out loud by ourselves. It was definitely nice to not be as sunburned, since we didn't have to claim our territory on the riverfront all day, but I'm not sure we'll miss out like that again. If we're going to watch the big show, we need to be in the big crowd. That's all I'm saying. Lesson learned.

The 4th of July is always one of my favorite holidays, because it's just so laid back. It's all about hanging out with your favorite people and reflecting on the blessings we receive as citizens of this great nation. Our country's freedom is something that I don't know that I fully appreciate, since it's all I've ever known. But I try, especially on the anniversary of our gain of independence, to not take it for granted.

However, there's another type of freedom that is even better, and that's the freedom we have in Christ. I can't think of political freedom without also considering my spiritual freedom. God is so good.

Happy Birthday, America!

Of course, we had to wish America a big "Happy Birthday!" with popsicles, sparklers, and fiery fountains in our backyard.

However, the next morning, on the actual 4th of July, is when the party really began. Brad and I joined our friends Alex and Amber for a day of Independence Day fun. We started our afternoon out at the Hot Chicken Festival, where the goal was to prove that Nashville's chicken is the only thing hotter than the 4th of July.

And, boy were they right! Despite the all-you-can-eat watermelons, mouths were breathing fire all over the place. We waited in line (forever) amongst the other first 500 guests to get two free samples of any hot chicken of our choice. Which meant, that Brad got four free samples, because I know better than to try to even attempt to consume something that is called "400 Degrees." Brad, on the other hand, was not so wise.

Once we were sufficiently sunburned from the noon-day's heat and had consumed multiple cups of freshly squeezed lemonade and some red, white, and blue sherbet, we ventured across the river to procure our seat for the city's fireworks display. We got there at 2:30, and could barely find a place for the four of us to sit. The show didn't start until 9:30, but this is what the riverfront looked like already at 5:00.

Luckily, we were able to snag the best seats in the house. We were all the way up front next to the fence, so nobody was in front of us, and we were all the way to the side. So, while there were 100,000 people to our right, there were only 20 or so to our left, alleviating the claustrophobia.

The temperature was so high, and the sun was so blazing, that we went on a venture to 2nd Avenue in order to find Brad his very first cowboy hat to help him from getting further sunburned. Thanks to a damaged hat that was on sale for $5, Brad is now officially a Southern Boy. Amber and I, meanwhile, huddled on the blanket under an umbrella, savoring any ounce of shade we could muster.

Five hours and five gallons of sweat later, we heard ourselves saying things like, "Are we completely crazy?" and "Who in the world actually does this???" and "Alright, great experience to say we did it, but only one time in our lives." or "What ever made us think this would be worth it??"

But we were enjoying all of the pre-show activities, concerts, and vendors. We especially loved this firefighter boat that sprayed water in red, white and blue. They also had a performance with the Nashville Symphony playing patriotic songs while a speaker passionately read the Declaration of Independence and other patriotic quotes from some of America's past heroes, before honoring our armed forces by asking any men or women who have fought for our nation to stand and be recognized. It was so powerful.

And once the actual fireworks display began, any doubts of whether or not we made the right decision to watch the show on the river were immediately squelched. It was absolutely breathtaking!

Fireworks (or, as I like to call them, Christmas lights in the sky) filled our entire view. They had constant fountains coming up from the ground and a perpetual stream of massive explosions occupying the sky. The show, combined with the live soundtrack of the symphony, was something like we had  never experienced before. We couldn't take our eyes off it.

I literally Ooh'ed an Ahh'ed and squealed and clapped and grinned so hard that my cheeks hurt. I felt like I was seven years old, but I couldn't help it! It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen in my life.

Not to mention the most romantic. There's nothing that says romance like kissing the love of your life with the glow of fireworks shining behind your eyelids.

We are 100% glad that we braved the crowd, heat, and traffic to experience the Best Fireworks Show in the South first hand. It's definitely a memory that we'll cherish for a long time to come.

Did you have a great Independence Day? Did you watch a big show or put one on yourself? And most importantly, did you eat a lot of watermelon??

Happy Independence Day!

The 4th of July is just a date on a calendar, but Independence Day is a holiday worth celebrating!

I hope you all have a wonderful day spent with family and friends, eating delicious summery food and risking your lives playing with bottle rockets. Go bask in the glow of some wonderful fireworks, and remember what they actually represent - the dedication, courage, and strength it took to fight for our freedom as a country.

Happy Independence Day!

God Bless America

Family, Fireworks & Floods

As a general rule, Mehaffeys love to camp. Our little family of three usually camps multiple times each summer. Chester, especially, thoroughly enjoys his weekends in nature. See how happy he is?

Every once in a while, we have the privilege of being joined by even more Mehaffeys (and soon-to-be-Mehaffeys, and basically-almost-Mehaffeys) on our outdoor excursions. Since all three Mehaffey boys live in Nashville, along with their respective ladies, it's pretty convenient for Mama and Papa Mehaffey to come down here for various mini-reunions. With the extended 4th of July weekend, we took advantage of the opportunity to celebrate the holiday as a family.

Don and Elaine parked their pop-up trailer into lot #5 at the RV park just north of town (where Matthew "Officer Mehaffey" is currently stationed), and Brad and I popped up our tent, right outside. We wasted away the weekend playing Ladder Ball, Corn Hole (Southern translation of the Yankee's "Bean Bag Toss"), swimming, reading, grilling, roasting marshmallows, making s'mores, and enjoying the relaxed time with family.

Along with the anticipation of the South's #1 fireworks display, Saturday, the 4th of July brought along with it ominous clouds and threats of thunderstorms. Determined to witness the pyrotechnic tribute to our nation's independence, we ignored the howling winds and rumors of tornado warnings, grabbed the dogs (Chester, and his cousin, Kate), loaded into a couple of vehicles, and headed towards downtown, over an hour before the celebration was to begin in order to guarantee decent seats within the projected crowd.

We procured space in the East Park with a great view of the Riverfront and LP Field, where the fireworks would soon be originating. Shortly after we arranged our camping chairs, it began to sprinkle. Luckily, there were some tents still erected from the Chicken Festival hosted earlier in the day. As the rain began to pick up, we relocated to the pseudo-shelter, post haste!

To our surprise, the not-so-distant skyline was illuminated by a spectacular show of sprinkling fire, an entire hour earlier than scheduled! Brad and I managed to get one decent picture taken with the salute to our nation's freedom in the background before torrential rain downpoured upon us. We huddled together against the slanting raindrops under our now measly refuge. Only five minutes into the display, we could no longer see the clusters of sparkles through the sheets of rain and flashes of lightening, or hear the BOOM! of the fireworks over the ROAR! of the winds and thunder; or over our own uncontrollable laughter!

After only a few moments of the ridiculous situation, we simultaneously agreed (whether verbally or nonverbally, I don't recall) that it was high time for us to make a mad dash to the car. The boys hastily grabbed the folded chairs, Heather held fast to Kate's leash, and I thrusted Chester into my running arms, and we high-taled it out of there.

We sloshed through puddles, slipped on mud, and lost a couple flip-flops before clambering into the car and giving ourselves over to fits of laughter! Our attempts to remain dry were futile. We were drenched. Absolutely sopping wet with water dripping from each of our noses. We may as well have just played in the rain. Within the security of the car, we joyfully reminisced about the scene as if it had occurred decades before, rather than mere moments.

Once our soaking bodies were all piled atop one another, the family headed toward Dairy Queen (of course) to meet Matthew, who was "patrolling the area." We convinced one of the employees to take a group picture of us, to better remember the time that we celebrated our country's birthday in the midst of a Tennessean hurricane.

We arrived back at the campsite to see that our tent and camper were now happily residing in a lake. The water was well up to my mid-calf as I maneuvered into the camper to gather some belongings - we had (easily) decided to spend the last evening of the holiday weekend comfortably in our warm, dry, cozy house. We created an assembly line from the tent and camper to the car. Those who had flip-flops that could easily wade through the pond were handing blankets, pillows, and toothbrushes to those on the bank in tennis shoes, who hurdled the posessions into various trunks of vehicles. We'd come back in the morning to actually pack up the camp site, hoping for dryer weather.

We concluded our weekend not with the highly anticipated campfire pancakes, but instead with a nearly-as-good breakfast at IHOP. We all looked a mess from the soggy events of the previous evening, but we didn't care. As long as we were together, we were having a great time.

Afterall, that's what family's all about.

Complete Independence Day '09 Album

Happy Birthday, USA!

I hope you all have a great Independence day!