Kelley's reactions to fireworks last night greatly disappointed me. I expected her to be amazed and excited by the lights and bangs and hoped that she would enjoy them. I dreaded that they might terrify her and make her cry, although her recent experience with a thunderstorm while in New York suggested that would not be the case.

But she took a middle road, burying her head in Mommy's shoulder and covering her other eye with her hand, and facing away from the show. She simply wanted nothing to do with the fireworks. It seems she found them scary, but not terrifying, and relaxed once they ended. Oh well, maybe next year will be different. Perhaps we can find someplace to watch more before then.

The rest of our day went well, however, with five people over for hanging out and eating. SoCal's been suffering a string of 100+ degree days so we stayed inside all afternoon. It cools down rather fast, though, so being outside for the fireworks did not pose any discomfort. Kelley did enjoy the playground at the fireworks venue before they started, and she played with some glowsticks for a long time, so I'd say she had fun for the most part.





Wheee! Again, again!





Boom!