Riding Bikes and Starting Fires

This 4th of July weekend was a little different for me. Usually I go to the lakes and camp out for 2 to 4 days. This year we decided to take it easy and hang out at home for the majority of the weekend. We visited Andrea’s sister and her family in Hankinson, ND on their farm and had a great time. We fed some chickens, played with some quail and taught Andrea’s nephew how to ride bike without training wheels. Teaching him how to ride his bike on two wheels was way more rewarding then lighting off a thousand dollars worth of fireworks! Andrea and I are so proud that we got to take part in an event that he will remember for the rest of his life. Here is some video of his second try at riding without training wheels:



Andrea and I decided we wanted to do something different this 4th and would go out to her mom’s since we haven’t been out there to celebrate the 4th of July. We first went out to visit some of my family at the lakes during the day and enjoyed the summer sun. That night we went to visit Andrea’s mom and dad in Sheldon, ND. We had brought some fireworks to light off along with some other people in town. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love fireworks and try to make sure there’s a good show. With the addition of the fireworks from other people, we had a great time. The only damper to the night was the fact that we almost started a house and a car on fire. The incident with the house was caused by this hot air balloon type lantern. You light the lantern and it’s supposed to go up into the air and burn for 20 minutes. Everything was fine until the wind took the lantern and blew it into an evergreen tree right next to the house. We were all freaking out because it was stuck some 30 feet in the air and the garden hose wasn’t reaching the lantern. Luckily, the lantern went out within a few stressful minutes without causing any damage, except that I loss five years off of my life. The car was almost started on fire due to a firework tipping over and shooting underneath the car. It created a bunch of smoke but looked worse then it was. What would the 4th of July be without almost destroying property?