Balsmeier Family

Well, we had plans to stay here for the Fourth but Aaron and Jessica had their baby (yeah!!) on the 2nd. Therefore, the plans we had to go boating with my parents were shot because they were going to leave for UT on the 3rd. So John and I, after much discussion, decided to head to KS. After all, we won't be seeing John's family again until Christmas, unless plans change. Anyway, we spent the Fourth of July weekend in KS. It was a good time. The nice thing about the Fourth in KS is that you can do your own fireworks right in your back yard, which we did. The years we lived in KS for this holiday, John spent a lot of $ on fireworks. With the trip out there and all, $20 was our limit on some small one for the kids. But the day was saved when three of the younger siblings covered the show. Now, you have to understand that this family can't just do a few cool ones or a couple little ones--NO, it has to be a show. I mean the neighbors set up chairs in the street to watch the show we put on. We're talking seven people lighting fireworks consistently for over an hour. It's a production.

So Kathi (my mother in law) invites a ton of people over for a BBQ. Right before people start showing up the boys leave to go buy the goods. You see, the longer you wait, the more they will discount the stuff they want to get rid of. A couple of truckloads later the BBQ is well under way. The weather was really agreeable and the food was great. Kathi added up 100 people at the house for the occasion. We eat and talk and the kids play (we also had a huge Blues Clues bouncer) and they do the small fireworks that entertain them in the daylight. Then the planning starts. You can see my brothers-in-law, John and the other helpers at the back of Kathi's massive yard setting up and talking about timing. Then the sun goes down and the firecrackers start. They think it's great to get the giant roll of black cats to have going for sound effects, I guess, while the fireworks are going off. So the noise starts, as if huge explosions in the sky weren't enough, and then the show starts. It was a wonderful show, I will admit. My kids loved it. Well, Ike slept through it all, but Jake and Abbi thought it was great.

After the show, we had some sparklers and roman candles for the kids. I was helping Abbi with a roman candle (those are the ones that you hold the tube in your hand on one end and the spark or firework shoots out the other) and I had it faced the wrong way-toward her, not away. It went off and hit her right in the chest. She starts screaming and I rip off her shirt and take her inside to get some cold water and ice on it. Now, as I am typing this I am thinking, "Clara, why are you telling the world that you shot your daughter with a firework? It might be something that will win you the elusive Worst Mother Award but not something you should announce to people."

Well, I am telling you, not because I necessarily want the world to know my momentary carelessness, but what happened afterward. Like I said I took her shirt off and brought her inside. I am actually very calm in these situations (if you know my brother you would understand I have a lot of experience with them), so I have her on the counter in the kitchen tending to her wound and her screaming. My brother in law got me some ice and my sister in law was telling me what I should and shouldn't do, mentioning the hospital and all kinds of unnecessary stuff. I have ice on her stomach and through her sobs she asks me, "Mommy, can we do another firework? And this time can we point it this way." I can not help but laugh. She hadn't even recovered from her injury, much less stopped crying, before she wants to do it again. And she had to throw in that she thought pointing it away from her body would be a good idea.

What a tough little girl!! John took her outside to do some more roman candles (Mommy is no longer allowed to assist with the fireworks for obvious reasons). She thought that they were great. We found out the next day that her wound turned out to be no real wound at all, just a little red dot on her chest.

In a nutshell, we had a great BBQ and a huge spectacular show with no injuries. Until I entered the picture. We now know that if you are to get hit with a firework, make sure that it is a roman candle. All in all, it was a good trip. Allen and Megan had their open house the following night and that was a lot of fun as well. We drove back on Monday. And given all the debate we had whether or not to go in the first place, we are glad that we did.