Wednesday, July 04, 2007

TRADITION!!

I'm a big fan of holiday traditions. And traditions aren't limited to "The Holidays" in November and December.

My daughters and I had a Fourth of July tradition of going down to the St. Louis Riverfront to watch the fireworks. I'm not a big fan of crowds. Hate them. But on the Fourth, it was worth it to me to elbow our way through hundreds of thousands of people eating funnel cake and corn-on-the cob, walk down the steps on the Arch grounds, stumble over the cobblestones and get to the river's edge. Then we'd wait an hour or so before seeing one of the most spectacular fireworks displays around.

Some people would talk about how well they could see the fireworks from miles away while sitting on lawnchairs in their front yards. OK, you may be able to see the higher fireworks, but miss out on all of the ground works. And the "wow" factor of seeing them up close.

The girls haven't been in St. Louis for several years for the Fourth, but they still talk about those times.

This year, I'm visiting Jenni and Tim and we're watching their neighbors prepare for their Fourth of July tradition. They have their grandchildren visit and participate in what they call "Cousin Camp". Apparently, there is a theme for the annual Cousin Camp. This year's theme is "Cowboys and Indians".

In the front yard, three teepees have been erected.





The back yard apparently is the cowboy territory as it has a fort. And a graveyard. We're a little perplexed by that one, to tell the truth. You'll have to squint, it's the white spot in the photo, which was larger. Blogger shrunk them for some reason.



The cousins haven't arrived yet; probably due later today.

Cousin Camp. What a great memory-maker.

Then there's this perplexing Fourth of July tradition.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Update on Cousin Camp - They have put signs up and now that the kids are here (18 of them!) they are decorating the teepee. Looks like they're going to have a lot of fun with Grandma and Grandpa!

Anonymous said...

We have a potential annoyance approaching - they have recorders!

Anonymous said...

Jenni, I feel like I know you. :)

Please keep us updated!

Jerry said...

I lost 3 fingers, one eye, and half my left ear when my Super 88 Mortar blew up yesterday. Wish I had got me one of those crickets.

Anonymous said...

You know when you go to touristy places and you can put your head in a hole and someone takes a picture of you looking like an astronaut or whatever? Well, the directors of cousin camp, Grandma and Grandpa, made one of those too! How cool is that?!??!

Anonymous said...

sly, call me when Buddy Holly turns up.

Otherwise, it sounds like a lot of fun and Grandma & Grandpa sound like my kind of people.

Anonymous said...

Looks like they're putting on a play today for all of the aunts and uncles. Mom, remember that big wall they put up in the backyard that we couldn't figure out what it was for? That's the stage.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jenni!

So what happened next?

Anonymous said...

They end the Cousin Camp every year with a fireworks show. We were gone, but I think the last day consisted of the play, food and fireworks. The grandpa has been slowly disassembling everything. Probably before that he slept for a few days though! I imagine that 18 kids would wear them out!