July 4, cont.

So what DID we do to entertain ourselves for four days in two towns that did virtually nothing to celebrate this iconic summer holiday? Plenty.

• We baked a peach pie.
• Bela learned how to ride a two-wheel bicycle.
• We caught fireflies.
• We lit sparklers and smoke bombs. Lots of smoke bombs. 
• Bela and Mae made friends with every single child under 12 years of age within a three block radius of my Grandma's house.
• Chris and I climbed the 'jumbo'. 
• Chris went on many bike rides.
• I tried to run.
• We made sun prints.
• We played hopscotch.
• Bela hula-hooped her heart out.
• We visited the sweet shop.
• We went to the park.
• We visited the cemetery. Many cemeteries. 
• The girls pulled the old red wagon around town.
• We drove to Henry, Illinois to watch the fireworks.*
• We went to Bloomington and ate Avanti's sandwiches.
• We visited Brian's tree at Lake Bloomington.
• We ate peppermint ice cream at Capponi's Italian Restaurant.

We did ok. 

Sweet Shop - choices

Bela loved her coke. Mae thought it was 'disgusting'.

Just shy of 4 months. 

*Henry, Illinois is located on the shores of the Illinois River. To enter the town from Toluca, our home base during our trip, you cross the river via a pretty bridge - East to West. The night of the fireworks, Henry was in full throes of their week-long summer carnival/fourth of July celebration. The fireworks were set off from the East side of the river, and the town gathered on the West shore to watch. We could see the early sky-high explosions over the cornfields as we approached the town. As we neared the bridge, the explosions got louder and louder, until we suddenly found ourselves right next to the men in blaze orange, holding little lights and smoldering punks. Our new little car filled with the sulfurous smell of lingering firework smoke. We practically drove through the show, emerging from the smoke cloud on the other side of the bridge, where we quickly took our lawn chairs and joined the crowd watching the short but sweet display, from the safety of the far side of the river.