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How did you celebrate the 4th?


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This is what the Turtles did:

 

Scout son #1 was ready for a flag ceremony at the drop of the house. Scout son #2 cooked part of lunch over a fire and we made a dutch oven cobbler for dinner (both firsts at the house)to show mama Turtle how it was done.

 

Hung my brother's casket flag (He died in '79 in the Army.) across the front of the house; I like to let it out of the case for holidays on occasion. I don't think he would mind.

 

Found my great grandfathers 98 year old casket flag and hung that one also. That was kinda cool as it had 48 stars--must have been the "new 48 star one" when he died. He was a Spanish American War Vet.

 

At my wife's request I refrained from old family tradition of reading the Declaration at dinner. Still, it is a good read. The family tradition usually entails the head of the house reading the Declaration, the wife complaining that food is getting cold, and the kids groaning "not again, we're not in school". :)

 

Scout son#1 said he learned in Citizenship in the Nation that the Declaration was not an "official" document like the Constitution. He meant you couldn't defend yourself in court with it. It was a bit muddled but he must have learned something. Sadly he was totally confused on what exactly we celebrate on July 4: He ventured the revolutionary war ending and the signing of the constitution.

 

When rain started later Scout son#2 jumped from his I-Pod and said "gotta get the flags in". And he did.

 

(Apologies to my UK friends for the musings. Coincidentally I had a very nice July 4th in a Hammersmith laundromat in '83 sipping smuggled beer with a fellow american quietly toasting "up the english" with some new Indian friends.

 

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Mr. B rarely eats beef.....couldn't tell ya the last time. It's a holiday I would like some steak......off to the store.

 

Holy smokes, have you priced steak lately???? Well I can't afford $40 worth of just steak for one meal. Chicken breast it is...... Ran out to the farmers market on got some fresh sweet corn.

 

Nice quiet day with the family.

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I just wanted a quiet day but really had to butter up the wife--she is getting a little stir crazy with the boys at home this summer. So I was cooking a lot and we went out and saw some fireworks from the waterfront last night.

 

The highlight was filling up the wading pool and watching the German Sheppard go crazy splashing around.

 

I eat a lot of meat but not many carbs--diabetes and all. Protein is expensive. Did chicken too.

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The spouse finished working on the pool, so it's filling now. Silly TS Debby put us behind two weeks. :(

 

Grocery shopped, and then we relaxed the rest of the day. Wtched fireworks on tv, because we had lightning coming through.

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Spent the day at an ASM's house, with some great food, good cocktails, and good fellowship with some scout families. It was over 100 degrees here, so it was outside for a little while, and in the A/C for the most part.

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I volunteered all day to assist running the Rifle/Shotgun range at our local BSA camp, Hugh Taylor Birch.

 

I am one of several shooting Sports instructors (NRA Rifle/Pistol/shotgun instructor) who volunteer time to assist the Shooting Sports director out there.

 

I volunteered the previous 2 weeks from 9 am to 9:30 pm every day on the same ranges, but also got to shoot my Black Powder Muzzle loader over 100 times (assisting Scouts using it).

 

To finish out the 4th, I took the wife for Ice Cream. My 2 Venture Scouts/children/17 year-olds, are on staff at the same camp, so have not gotten to see them much :( )

 

No fireworks because of a fire-ban in the Ohio area... but the wife and I watched John Carter of Mars on the DVD...

 

 

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We took three generations of family out to the woods and hiked to a nice waterfall where I taught grandsons how to scare mom with aquatic insects and the occasional salamander. Then we found another nice stream with a running spring for the boys to play in while we set up a picnic. After that we moved to a good place to go swimming at the lake. In the evening the neighborhood had a pot luck. Bar-b-cue and lots of wonderful random things that we all brought to share. Early bed time though, after a good day.

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The 4th is the Troop's biggest fundraiser of the year. We run the concessions for our small town parade - food, kiddie games, dunk tank. The parade was about 20 minutes long, featured our famous 'lawn chair brigade', the ladies 'rolling pin review', two perfectly restored Vettes (62 and 65) and a mishmash of kids on bikes, yard tractors, wagons, etc. Incredibly cheesy, hokey and ridiculous but its been done for over 25 years in a row and everyone still has a smile on their face.

 

Only downturn is I wrenched my back picking up my toolbox, um, I mean I had to stop a horse from running over a baby in a stroller pushed by a grandma in a wheelchair (yea, thats it!).

 

 

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After reading the Declaration of Independence, my two sons and I (Life, 2C) loaded up the kayaks and did a recon trip of a river we wanted to take the troop canoeing on. Since most of the troop are paddling novices, it was a good idea. We had a blast ripping through the rapids but the water is a little too low for canoes so we'll take another route.

 

My wife dropped us off then met us a few miles downriver a few hours later.

 

 

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BBQ with friends and neighbors, proved to a loudmouth tea-party guy who claimed that liberals don't know the first word of the Declaration of Independence that the first word is not "when" as he claims but "In" as in "In Congress..." much to the delight of his liberal wife, then enjoyed fireworks from 5 towns while sitting in a chair in one spot.

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Woke up at 6:30 am. Then broke down camp and packed the car. I checked us out. Me and my son went to flags, then sat down and had breakfast in the mess hall while I filled out the survey form. We then rushed to get out of the small town outside of Camp Fleischmann because we were not in the mood to get stuck in town for their 4th parade. Then stopped at the rest area outside of town and finished our morning routine and enjoyed the view of Lake Alamor. Then drove home, took advantage of Starbucks free tall coffee, got home took a nap. Had a nice dinner and watched the fireworks with my son and my hubby. My son had a great experience at his first Cub Scout camp!

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