As far as useful knowledge goes, today's post is going to be more of a pictorial recap of the 4th of July.
I'll try to do the "useful knowledge" thing Monday.
RANDOMNESS - 4th of July Recap - It was a rainy day in Central Alabama on the 4th of July. It wasn't a total washout, but it was cloudy and cool.
On Wednesday night, I decided to make Plan B a reality. If we weren't going to be able to play Water Balloon Horseshoes or Water Balloon Badminton or spit watermelon seeds into a bowl in the driveway... Well, what else was there to do?
I decided to make a Walmart Americana Scavenger Hunt (see below).
There were four teams of two (Brad and Stephanie, Austin and Melia, Josh and Zac, Roxie and Katie).
Speed wasn't a part of the race. It didn't matter who got back to the house first. (I didn't want to have to worry about young drivers going too fast, so I took speed out of the equation.)
I've posted the entire Hunt below in case you are ever in a "rainy day 4th of July activity" dilemma.
After the Americana Scavenger Hunt, it wasn't raining, thundering or lightning, so we decided to do the Slip and Slide, and although INCREDIBLY messy, it was also pretty fun.
I highly recommend both for your next 4th of July get-together.
The following is the pictorial recap I spoke of above:
Sometimes, it is all about the placement of the hands (Roxie)...
While others prefer the "tummy tuck and turn" (Josh)...
Or the Super Man (Josh)...
Or... Hmmm. I'm not sure what The Lovely Melia is doing.
Then there was the cousin race (Brad and Austin)...
And Brad won.
As evidenced by these pictures, Stephanie and Melia's main goal was to reach the end of the tarp.
And before the end of the day, they made it!
Americana Scavenger Hunt
1. Go to Walmart. ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT… DRIVE THE SPEED LIMIT (OR UNDER). Park as close to a cart space as you possibly can. (If you are 2 or 3 spaces away, that’s still considered close!) Points depend on how close you park next to the cart space. If your car is next to it… 5 points. If your car is 2 spaces away… 3 points.
TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR CAR AND HOW CLOSE IT IS TO THE CART SPACE.
2. Go inside Walmart. Look in your envelope. You will see 4 quarters. Use the quarters and try to grab a stuffed animal using the machine in front of the store. If you don’t get an animal, it’s okay. However, if you DO get an animal, you get 5 extra points.
TAKE A PICTURE OF THE PLAYER TRYING TO WIN THE ANIMAL.
YOU CAN ONLY USE 4 QUARTERS.
IF YOU ACTUALLY GET A STUFFED TOY, YOU RECEIVE 5 POINTS.
IF YOU JUST GET THE PICTURE, YOU RECEIVE 1 POINT.
3. Go to the Garden Center in Walmart.
TAKE A PICTURE IN FRONT OF A RED, WHITE OR BLUE PLANT.
1 point - red plant
2 points - red and white plant
3 points - blue plant (MUST BE VIVID BLUE... NOT PURPLE.)
4. Find the American Flags in Walmart.
TAKE A PICTURE IN FRONT OF THE AMERICAN FLAG DISPLAY.
5. Go to the Food Part of Walmart.
TAKE A PICTURE IN FRONT OF THE GIANT BOX OF WATERMELONS.
6. Go to the Frozen Cookie Section of Walmart.
TAKE A PICTURE OF YOUR TEAMMATE HOLDING A PATRIOTIC PACK OF COOKIES. (THEY CANNOT BE ALREADY BAKED.)
7. Go to McDonald’s IN Walmart. There is $5 in your envelope. Buy a small FRY and a small SOFT DRINK. Sit down and both of you must eat all of the fries and drink all of the soft drink.
TAKE A PICTURE OF THE EMPTY CUP AND FRY WRAPPER.
8. Find the $.98 CANDY BIN in front of the cash registers at Walmart. Pick out your movie candy... ONE EACH.
PAY FOR YOUR MOVIE CANDY AND GO TO YOUR CAR.
9. Sit in the front seat of your car.
TAKE A VIDEO OF YOU AND YOUR TEAMMATE SINGING A PATRIOTIC SONG. IT CAN BE ANY PATRIOTIC SONG, BUT YOU MUST SING IT FROM BEGINNING TO END.
10. Drive back to Aunt Belinda’s/Mom’s house.
Coming up Peterson Drive, stop and TAKE A PICTURE OF AS MANY AMERICAN FLAGS AS YOU SEE ON PEOPLE’S FRONT PORCHES.
You will receive 1 point for each flag you photograph ON Peterson Drive.
11. COME ON INSIDE AND LET BELINDA OR BEV CHECK YOUR POINTS!
WINNERS RECEIVE 2 FREE MOVIE TICKETS FOR TONIGHT'S MOVIE... (OR IF THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO GO TONIGHT, 2 FREE MOVIE TICKETS FOR WHENEVER!)
NOTE - Speed wasn't the main "point getter" in this race. Accuracy was the MOST important aspect of the Hunt.
ANOTHER NOTE - I mixed up the numbers (2 through 8) so each team's Hunt was a little different from the other teams in the store. They passed each other regularly, but they weren't fighting to do the same activity.
YET ANOTHER NOTE - Unless otherwise specified, the teams received 1 point for each task completed.
ONE MORE NOTE - Katie and Roxie won with a total of 27 points. The other three teams tied with 26 points.
LAST NOTE, I PROMISE - It took about 45 minutes to an hour for everyone to get back to the house, and all of the kids seemed to enjoy it... a lot.
Weekend Happenings
1. Friday will find me feeding young adults and doing piles of laundry. (The Slip and Slide was fun, but very, very hard on clothes and towels.)
2. Mikie called and asked me out for a date Saturday night, and I accepted. Austin will be working. Josh is undecided at this point what Saturday will hold for him. The Chick is dog sitting for two different families, so feeding and taking care of the animals will play a HUGE part of her Saturday plans.
3. At this moment, Sunday will be a church-attending, lunch-eating, nap-taking kind of day. It is subject to change, but I kind of hope it doesn't!
Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend. I'll be back Monday morning with "useful information" galore. (We can always hope, can't we?)
Take care, and I'll talk to you next week.
Sincerely,
The Enchanting Belinda
A little extra...
I don't insist everyone wear red, white and blue, but those who do get a special photo op. Stephanie, Brad and Grandmother were very festive yesterday.
And Josh was very tired!
And a little extra, EXTRA...
Before our meal, we took a few minutes to listen to Ronald Reagan's "Freedom Isn't Free" speech. Our church had played this video during a recent Wednesday night service, and it was excellent.
We'll be doing more of these type videos before our blessing as the years go by, I think.
Getting together with family is important...
Having a fun time with the cousins is great...
Eating traditional 4th of July food is so, so good...
But if we ever "forget to remember" why we're able to do the things we enjoy as Americans, then something is very, very wrong.
Happy 4th of July Weekend!
My family has NEVER been a 4th-of-July-is-a special-day kind of family. Nice to have internet and bloggers for vicarious holiday celebrations. I think I vaguely recall some picnics at Rickwood Caverns from my early childhood years...but most of those participants are gone now - mostly by death and some have just moved on to wherever. Now my family is just me and my spouse. We celebrated yesterday by sleeping a lot. It was great! :-)
ReplyDeleteAhhh. At 2:16 p.m. the day AFTER the 4th of July (and 10 loads of laundry), that sounds like a really, really good way to celebrate!
DeleteHappy 4th, 5th and 6th!