I love the holidays. I enjoy rhythm, tradition and celebration. I find joy and meaning in even the cheesiest of rituals and I throw myself into the carrying out of the rituals wholeheartedly. This will never change. I know that it is sort of trendy for my generation to turn their noses up at various holidays for various reason. I have read my fair share of internet soapboxes and, while I cannot say I always disagree with the points made, I have to admit I do not find them particularly compelling either. Regardless of what you celebrate or when you celebrate or how you celebrate, holidays connect people to one another and they remind us that we belong to each other. Meaningful family rituals, symbolic acts, and special occasions are also consistently linked to positive outcomes for children and families as well. So, I will happily continue to toast the New Year with Shirley Temples, wear my Santa hat at Christmas, and send my children to collect candy from strangers on Halloween without hesitation because....science. I cannot explain why Independence Day is my favorite holiday. I am not a particularly patriotic person or anything. My best guess is that I have a lot of positive memories associated with summertime and the Fourth of July, and it has turned into a deep love for parades and fireworks and cookouts and a desire to create those same positive memories for my own children. We used to attend the same Independence Day celebration every year. For the last few years various circumstances have kept us from that tradition and, inadvertently, a new tradition was born in its absence. Now, we seek out a celebration somewhere near by, load up in the car and head out for a day in Small Town, USA. Chattanooga certainly isn't The Big City or anything, but it also isn't the sort of place with one elementary school and a general store either. I have always been curious about the little places that are usually no more than a white name on a highway sign. It is fun to have a chance to take a closer look. This year, we visited Sweetwater, TN. All the streets in downtown were blocked off and filled with music, performances, prayer meetings, vendors and fun. The boys were thrilled with the free train rides (Rory did not love the train whistle so much though). They also enjoyed watermelon slices and bounce house fun. We lasted several hours before attitudes began melting and we needed to head indoors. We found a place to eat on Yelp and headed out for dinner. The little restaurant we discovered was so cute. Dinner was a country-style buffet and I am fairly certain my little Southern boys felt like they had died and gone to heaven. They stuffed themselves silly and topped it all of with a trip to the ice cream sundae bar. The general store was also adorable and a little window-shopping was a nice break from the heat. After dinner, we changed into pajamas and headed back downtown for more fun. We made it just in time to watch a martial arts performance. Liam is obsessed with ninjas and was thoroughly impressed. And then....just when we did not think it could get any better..... the music started.... Everyone rushed to the streets to dance and Dexter was not about to be left behind. While his brothers observed from the sidelines, my Wild Child whipped and nae-naed right along with the best of them. He was very serious about it but I could not stop smiling. When the music ended, he took his bow. We ended the night with a lovely fireworks show and then loaded our tired, sweaty boys up in the car to head home.
Thank you, Sweetwater, for a lovely Fourth of July!
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WHO AM I?
I am Michelle: a wannabe hippie in love with a bonafide geek. We also spawned. I spend my days with our four wild, beautiful boy children and I overshare about our life online because I am a Millennial and that is what we do.
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