Oooooh and Aaaaah

Hope you all enjoyed your 4th of July festivities. We did. John worked 12 hours yesterday, but as soon as he got home we got ourselves together and went to Sunset Park in Londonderry Twp. The 257th Army Band, "The Band of America's Capital," performed and was followed by a fireworks show.
We came prepared with snacks, a big blanket, and extra warm clothes for the girls. While I was wishing I had brought myself a sweatshirt or something, the girls, of course, wanted no part of their warm clothes. But like any good mother - I forced them. =)
We enjoyed our snacks.... in the first 30 minutes of being there =) We just can't help ourselves. If food is in front of us, we eat it like we may never eat again. At one point, John said, "have you noticed anyone else feeding their faces since the moment they sat down? I mean, other than anyone in our family?"
Sometimes he cracks me up. I looked over and saw a large rectangle in the grass, about 8ft by 20ft. It was filled with pea gravel, tamped down tight. I said, "what is that thing? I mean what's it for?" John said, "I don't know, but it must be filled with gators because no one will set foot in it."

Anyway, back to our story. So finally, the fireworks begin and Julsie says her first full sentence "I wanna go home." For the entire show, she sat cradled in John's arms and would not remove her hands from her eyes. Poor girl.

So, as the show was going on, I commented on something I had noticed a few year back. Do you remember, how when we were little kids, everyone oooohed and aaahed at the fireworks? Back then, each fire work was set off individually, until the Grand Finale, of course ... which is what made it so special. But as each firework exploded in the night sky the entire crowd would, spontaneously and in unison, say "oooooh" and at the cue of the next bang, say "aaaaah."

I loved the synchronized "ooohs and aaaahs." It made you feel like part of something, like this entire group of strangers and you had something in common. This wave-like, rocking chorus of "ooohs and aaahs" made the fireworks extra fun.

But have you noticed? No one ooohs and aaahs anymore! It's so sad to me. I tried to personally bring it back last night, but not even my own family was catching on. Maybe its because the rapid succession of fireworks now comprising the main part of the show, comparable to our old Grand Finale, simply doesn't allow for it. Maybe it's because, as one kid so eloquently yelled out in a moment of silence, "hey it's just like Dutch Wonderland." The 4th used to be the one and only time of the year I saw fireworks. Now, you can see 'em almost every Saturday night at Hershey Park and like anything, if you start indulging in something "special" every day, it's just not special anymore.