An Explosive Fourth

We started the 4th of July out early by going to our ward's 4th of July Breakfast. I was really excited for this because my parents used to have a 4th of July breakfast every year (they didn't do it this year though). It even consisted of the traditional July 4th breakfast food that I am used to, pancakes and breakfast casserole. It was good, but not as good as mom's.

That afternoon we went over to the Carr's house and crashed their neighborhood party. It was super hot but there was good food, a slip n' slide and a little pool for the kids to keep cool in.

That night Bob went to bed at 7:00 pm (he had to work at 3am the next morning) and the kids and I tagged along with the Carr family and headed to the Leesburg fireworks. There were a lot of people there. We decided not to venture too far from the car so that we would be able to get back to it quickly and make a quick get away later that night.

We found a little hill close by and put down our blankets and let the kids play while it slowly got darker and darker. It was a typical fireworks show, there was a band singing beforehand and patriotic music during.

The line to the bathrooms was about 20 minutes long before the fireworks started so I decided I would wait to go, and I let Isla pee on the grass next to the car. During the fireworks show, I decided I couldn't wait any longer and figured that everyone else would now be watching the fireworks and the line shouldn't be too long. Well there was no line but the evidence of 10,000 people using 8 toilets almost made me throw up. However, when you're almost 8 months pregnant there is not much choice in the matter!

In the mean time, I missed the grand finale and got back to my blanket just in time to grab my kids and my stuff and head back to the car. We got to the car in good time and felt lucky to be pretty close to the front of the long line of cars leaving the parking lot. We still had to wait a bit for the traffic cops to let all of the pedestrians get out of the street, before they let any of the cars leave the parking lot. After about ten minutes, we were on our way and were glad that traffic was flowing pretty well.

And this is where the night got interesting.

We were driving along when the traffic slowed down a little bit and the traffic cop waved his little red wand at us to turn right. Well, for one thing we didn't want to turn right. We were on the road we needed to be on to get home. And for another thing, we could see the cars on the road we were being detoured on to were at a complete stop. Lige, who was driving, hesitantly turned the steering wheel a little, but then decided to try to tell the cop that we didn't want to go that way. But after an authoritative "MOVE" came from the cop we decided to be good citizens and obey.

After turning onto the little side street, we looked behind us only to see that the officer was now letting vehicles travel straight through, and was not telling them to follow in the direction he guided us. Every once in a while the cop would wave another car onto the side street until there were about 4 or 5 more cars behind us. When the street we were now on had filled up with vehicles, the cop put up a barricade and blocked off the road!

We were now trapped on this little side road with no sign a moving car in front of us. Well, it only took me about two minutes of sitting there before I got out of the car to go have a little chat with the police officer. Now, before I go any further with my story, I will share a few more details. There were eight of us in the vehicle, five of which were under the age of 4 and one that was in her eighth month of pregnancy.

Now, as I mentioned previously, I went to have a little chat with the officer. I said, "I'm sorry, I don't mean to be a bother, but I don't understand why you just did this to us. The traffic is moving perfectly fine here, but now we are stuck on this little street when we could have been on our way home by now". He gave me some answer like he was just doing his job or something. And so I walked away.

But after a few more minutes of waiting in deadlocked traffic, I was even more frustrated (not to mention that I had missed the fireworks finale to use the bathroom). So I went to have another chat with the officer.

I told him that traffic was moving fine now and there was plenty of room for us to all turn our cars around and get back onto the road that we wanted to be on. He told me he couldn't do that because he could lose his job. "I'm sorry but there is nothing I can do", said the officer, to which I replied, "YES, YOU CAN!" That is when my voice got a bit louder and louder as the officer kept saying, "There is nothing I can do", and I would shout back, "YES, YOU CAN!"

After a few minutes of this, Lige, along with some of the other drivers, showed up to join me. I told the officer that I would just move the barricade myself (remember, eight months pregnant!) to which he replied, "then I will arrest you for obstruction", or something like that.

I walked away and let the others handle things. Soon, the sergeant arrived and said a few pathetic things to Lige about his wife and kids being at home while he was there at work. Well, we didn't feel bad for them, at least they were at home instead of being trapped on a little side road for no reason at all!

In the end, the sergeant finally let us all turn around and get back on to the road that was just trickling with cars now, and we were on our way.

I don't think I have ever yelled at a cop before and in fact I don't even remember the last time I yelled at anyone like that or the last time I was that mad and frustrated. But in the end, I didn't get arrested and we did get to turn around. Although it would be terrifying to actually get arrested, I laughed as I thought about the little news article in the paper the next morning, "Eight months pregnant woman arrested for moving barricade".

Moral of the story, Don't mess with an eight months pregnant, red headed woman.

She will get her way.

Don't judge me too badly (especially you Josh)!

I only wish Bob had been there, he tells stories much better than I do.

Max and Liam with their "lightsabers"

Remy and Isla

The kids loved playing on this little bridge.

Me and the kids watching the fireworks.

This is the best picture I got ( that girl stood there the entire time).

Max, watching the fireworks.

The Carr Family.

Thanks for letting me and my kids come along (but let's never go there again)!