We began our fantastic 4th by everyone taking turns reading parts of the Declaration of Independence.  I wondered if this was over the top but just wait until you hear/read what happened later.  ;)  Then we watched our traditional movie, Yankee Doodle Dandee.  At the end we had gentle rain outdoors.  yea!  The ribs grilled in the rain while dh ran to the store to get 2 bags of ice so we could hand crank the ice cream.  By the time he got back the ribs were done!  I had made a pasta salad with veggies and herbs from our garden.  I got some barbeque sauce out but dh wouldn't let me put any on the meat.  He was too impressed with the rub mixture I had put on! By then the rain had stopped and we sat at the kitchen table eating the most delicious ribs we've ever had and freshest salad we can remember, while watching water drip from the eaves and birds splash in the water.  Well, after dinner clean up we hand cranked chocolate chip chocolate ice cream!  Then the moment ds had been waiting for....relay races. Guys against the girls.  We ran with spoonfuls of water from the bucket to the glass.  The guys won.  My husband suggested we select poetry to read from my books before the fireworks show!  So I got all my Country and America Ideals out and we each took turns selecting a patriotic poem to read.  DH went first and guess what he picked?  The Declaration of Independence! So that got read twice that day and once the week before at our unit celebration!  And we had studied it in depth for a week about a month before that!  We are getting to know this document rather well! ;)  At 830 dh announced it was time for us to put the books down and head for the fireworks.  The dc groaned!  As much as they wanted to see the fireworks, they wanted to squeeze in just one more poem!  I love it!  We took our yearly walk to the next neighborhood to the top of the hill.  The temperature was delightfully cool, storm clouds were billowing up in the far distance, towering prodigiously in the sky with varying shades of white and grey.  Parts of the sky showed blue.  When we got to the  top of the hill we watched the sun set and waited about 15 minutes for the professional fireworks show.  I finally walked down the hill a bit because I could hear the other professional fireworks show and wondered if I could see them at all.  But no, I could only see the glow over the rooftops.  Then the dc came running down the hill, telling me to join them in chairs provided by the sweet homeowners up the hill!  They had just come out with their chairs to sit in their driveway and view the show and saw dh and the dc.  They insisted that we have seats too!  Wasn't that sweet of them?  That is the most comfortable I have ever been watching a fantastic fireworks show.  Well no, that isn't true.  I was in Washington DC one year at the top  of the Kennedy Center restaurant where my SIL worked and surprise, there was an incredible fireworks show with the Washington Monument as the backdrop!  Nothing will ever top that!  But this came pretty close!  ;)