traditions

When I was little, my mom used to take us to the fireworks down at the Art Museum or Penn's Landing in Philly. We would watch them all together after walking miles from the car in the hot, garbage-smelling city. Some times my aunt and uncle would come with their kids too, totaling 8 kids at times. The kids would cry for glow necklaces and junk food, the parents yelled to stay together and hold hands crossing the street, and everyone was mad at each other for some reason or another. That is until the beautiful lights in the sky distracted us from the aggravation of family time in the big crowds of the city. Then suddenly, as if by magic, all the negativity lifted and we would all sit together on an itchy, ugly (sorry mom), red wool blanket from the car. And afterward, we would go get ice cream and everyone would go home happy.

Today, I still tear up at the sight of fireworks (and rainbows). Now that we have a family of our own, we've made an attempt to start making our own family memories. Granted, it's only been 10 months of creation so I guess in all technicality, they're not traditions until we do it more than once... But this is the foundation for our future.

This year we are going to attempt to see some fireworks, that start past her bedtime, and then we'll go get some frozen yogurt. (One month and two weeks until ice cream!!!). I'm nervous to see whether she holds her ears and cry like Nick, point and smile like Jessi and I, or fall asleep in the car before we even make it out of the car like Tyler. I think even if Dave and I end up eating ice cream in the parking lot while she sleeps, we'll feel as if we started our own traditions.

From this year forth, we're creating her childhood memories. Maybe some day Lilli will talk about the memory of our family spending time smooshed on an itchy blanket watching the beautiful light show in the sky.