Fourth of July

We went to the base here in Aviano for the fourth, and I was really impressed with the extravaganza they put on. There was a car show, a battle of the bands, carnival games (ie ring toss, etc) some booths with crafts for sale, lots of food booths, and lots of stuff for the kids. They had two bouncy castles, two blow up water slides, bungee trampolines (which Jess had to talk the lady into letting Cooper try), a mechanical bull, "face painting" (temp. tattoos), and even a misting station where you could stand under the misters and cool off. We met up with our friends Ben and Deborah and their kiddos, and we had a blast. The kids went nuts on the bouncy castles, especially Zeke, and Cooper was sooooo excited for the bungee jump thing that it made the hour and a half wait worth it (thank you Ben and Deb for standing in line!) We ended up staying until after eight, when we put the kids into jammies and loaded up the car and went for a drive. There was a huge thunder and lightning storm all night, so we drove as high up the mountain as we dared, let the kids sleep, watched the storm, and waited for the fireworks to start. Zeke fell asleep, but Cooper ended up staying awake until the fireworks started at ten (apparently all that jumping still wasn't enough to tire her out???) and she got to watch the "sparkly lights" in the sky. It was really hot and humid, and sprinkled on and off all day (until the downpour started right after we left ;) ) but it was so much fun.