Struggling for a Tradition ... July 4th

Last week was just absolutely INSANE. I spent the beginning of the week teaching my daughter how to ride the bus so she could get herself home from cheer practice. Then, the rest of the week was spent at the Kansas City Developer Conference at the Convention Center (thank you to Paige Technologies for the passes). Finally, we ended the week with the Maker Faire and me suffering from major dehydration. *note - when attending conferences, drink a LOT of water!*

This weekend I also decided to start writing on Hubpages. I don't know how often I will publish articles, but they will be about women in technology, women empowerment, and other informational articles. My first article was on women CEOs.

This week is Fourth of July, so I'm going to talk about how we normally celebrate ... and then what is taking place this year.

When I was growing up, we always celebrated the fourth AFTER the fourth with a family who had been friends of ours for so long that I thought they were relatives. I loved this tradition and planned to continue it with my children. However, I ended up moving to a city where we couldn't shoot off fireworks. We struggled to find a good tradition, and when we finally moved to a city where we could shoot off fireworks, our daughter burnt herself on sparklers. Last year, we found something fun to do with the family and planned to do it again this year.

We went to Pierson Park, ate KFC Chicken, let the kids play at the splash park, and then watched the fireworks. They do their fireworks on July 3rd instead of the 4th, so we technically could still do small things outside our apartment if we wanted. However, my older two are going to be with my mom all afternoon and evening on the 3rd. We made sure they were okay with missing the fireworks with us. We didn't expect it to be a problem since they are getting to swim in a pool, go to a Royal's game, and watch fireworks at the end ... and we were right.

HOWEVER ... we heard two days ago that Pierson Park is not having fireworks this year. *sigh* So, I'm back to not knowing what hubby and I will be doing with the two littles. We might just enjoy a dinner and light fountains for them. We will see.

What do you do for the fourth? When traditions end, how hard is it for you to come up with a new tradition?