Seriously, she called a fire engine on our fireworks?

That was the first thought that came to mind, when I saw 3 police cars, a fire engine, and 2 aide cars pull up to what I thought, at first was our house. Just hours earlier, Jennifer and I were setting off tamer fireworks for a 17-month old kid across the street.

Wouldn't you know the moment we shot off a parachute thingy, one part falls on the neighbor's roof who hates us. We were waiting for them to come storming out of the house (they had just pulled up as the chutist fell on their roof), but didn't happen.

However, it was just getting dark, and J and I were across the street playing with the 17-month old, and eating a chocolate concoction, when in fact, all the lights show up. As it turns out, it was a medical problem at our across the street neighbor's (never quite figured out what, or why 3 cop cars were there).

But we had to wait for them to leave to start shooting off our unsafe and insane fireworks. The fact there were so many vehicles with red lights didn't deter the neighbors down the street, who shot off sky rockets to their hearts content. We didn't have the nerve.

So we finally shot off the last firework about 11 pm, and then went in to watch the tivo'd Seattle version.

Time to buy fireworks!

This, ironically, has fallen to Jennifer and I. Gary has decided he doesn't quite care for them anymore. And mom's disapproval practically dripped from the phone.

She's not a fan of them either.

But she never was. I inherited my love of FW from my dad, who used to tell me stories of saving up all summer to buy a big box directly from the fireworks companies (in the 30s). Yeah, well, I never did that, but it's ingrained in my memory that we went out to the fireworks stands, and shot them off every 4th, and then saved some for the 1st of the next year of course.

So Jennifer and I went out to the Muckleshoot res. only to find about a gazillion people had beat us to it. The line up snaked up Highway 18 and onto 410 to the rez. Once there, it was like stepping in a combo of a war zone and a carnival, with hawkers at every stand.

"Geez," Jennifer said. "Some of those kids out out in the war zone (where the locals set off boxes of fireworks) are, what 5?"

Seems like. I was busy as the minute, trying to negotiate an intersection to turn into the firework plaza and make sure a paratrooper didn't land on the car. It didn't, it got caught up in a power line.

Once there, we did stick to our budget of $75, but it was a bit overwhelming to look at stand after stand, with mostly the same thing. We finally got our purchases, with a few freebies thrown in, and headed out.

The flaggers decided that the traffic wasn't working, so they routed us out the back, down what looked like an old logging trail that spit us out onto 410 again. Fortunately, the path worked, for those with faith that didn't bottom out, end up in the war zone (a spur of the road did snake off that direction) or get stuck in the mud or a pothole). And a caravan of cars started following me, so I just took a deep breath and plowed on.

Things that go boom

Out to make are regular pilgrimage to all things that sparkle and go boom.

My hubby doesn't approve, but he's out there with a bucket, and lighting the fuses each July 4, as Jennifer and I haul home our loot from the res. This time it's $63 work, and I put this in the staycation budget, so I basically told Gary to suck it up.

When he found out we were at the res, not at the safe and sane fireworks stands, he began to try and convince me not to buy anything there.

Why?

Because the cops are telling us they are going to crack down.

OK, well, I don't see any cops stopping people at the gate or the city limits to Auburn. And besides, we're packing this stuff to Kent, where things can still go up in the sky.

Well, I'm just saying.

OK, we're just going to look anyway. (I can hear an eye roll on the other end).

And of course we end up buying stuff. We kept running into kids going to her high school, so what were we supposed to do. I felt proud we kept it under $75.

And we'll just have to make sure we keep out of witch lady's yard.