fireworks with blonde girls

I'm home!
Didja miss me?

"Yes, I did!
What do you mean by going off like that during a pandemic?"

Seriously, I was just fine.
I had expected to be one of eleven at the cookout, but it turned out to be just my first niece, her man, and their two little girls.
Junior wasn't there because his maternal grandma has COVID-19.
Michael and his mom weren't there because they had other plans.
So, more steak and shrimp for me!
Plus, Christina had made mac'n'cheese with Lactaid milk, just so I could eat it - and I did!

"And grilled veggies, too!
Aw, how very sweet of her!"

Yes, it was!
I think she was just glad to have company, even though I was fairly late getting there.
I'd been writing, ya know, as I woke up inspired, and that took much longer than I'd thought it would.
Anywho, this is Chloe, in for an extreme close-up!
We were playing on the couch after dinner, with Mommy and Dadda lounging nearby.

"Take one of me, too," Miyah said, bouncing off the other side of me to stand and pose.
Ain't she a pistol?
She had laid claim to me the moment I got there!
First, we played in the back yard with various balls before dinner.
Then, she sat right there beside me during the meal.
After, she insisted that I play with her in the living room, dragging out all the dolls and books and whatnots from the toy chest!
I think she had the most fun when she and her little sister went behind me on the couch and I kept pretending to squish them -
I know I sure did like that!

"Well it sounds to me like it was a good thing that no one else was there!"

It really was, especially for Miyah.
She is potty-trained now and has had a bit of a growth spurt.
Usually when I see her, the twins are around, too, and they are constantly moving and talking and getting attention.
Littlest girl just can't compete with all that.
So, it was good for her to have me all to herself, and it was good for me to spend so much time with her!

"Yes, but Chloe was there, too."

Sure, but the Chlo is pretty mellow and laid-back.
She really isn't that big of an attention hound just yet... but she's learning!

"Yes, I bet she's learning fast, too!
With a big sister to show her how it's done and two cousins to help speed that along, she'll be reaching for the spotlight pretty soon."

No doubt.
That's why it was nice to be able to have a bit of Miyah time to me.
She is, after all, my littlest superhero.
(smile!)

"So she is, I know, and that's been a year ago now."

Actually, tomorrow will make one year since we played at Forsyth Park.

"Yeah, that seems like it must have been a dream.
So... talk to me about fireworks!
Did they have some?"

No, Christina and Chris didn't have any, but we originally had plans to go see them at a church in Ludowici.
Turned out there was no need for that trip!
Folks down the street started shooting them before the sky was even dark!

"The sky is still so blue!
Was it even sunset yet?"

Surprisingly, it was about twenty minutes past sunset.

Of course, how dark the sky appears depends on which direction you're looking in.
It will be darkest facing west, like in the first photo.
In this second one, with everyone out to watch, you can see the paler sky facing east, looking over Christina's shoulder.

"Oh, how nice to see the girls out for the festivities!
Did they watch the whole time?"

Nah, that curiosity didn't last long!
I think the noise was a bit too much for them.
When the neighbors two houses down started firing their stockpile, the girls went inside and stayed.
Neither I nor Christina could entice them to come back out.
I stayed out for easily another hour!
Seriously, those folks had fireworks that rivaled anything I've seen at the ball park.

"Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherry bomb!!!
And is that Chris' mailbox?"

It is!
I deliberately took that shot with the mailbox included!
It actually took a couple of times for me to catch the exploding firework, too.
That calls for some tricky timing!
Good thing I have so much practice from the baseball games!
Early opening games on April nights with the Sand Gnats...
Memorial Day games with my past boys of summer...
plus, there's the post-game skylights on regular Saturday nights with Sand Gnats..
or post-game on Friday nights with Savannah Bananas...
Or even on strange Saturdays with these new guys...
games that Mister Willie stayed after just for my love of fireworks...
then there was that celebration one cold October for Armstrong's centennial...
And that random display after the Masquers' summer play...
including some lovely flowers named for their similar appearance.

"Aren't you forgetting about another time with Christina?"

You mean the time down at Jekyll Island, with the three foster kids she had then?
No, I haven't forgotten that, my dear.
By coincidence, those children's names came up during dinner tonight.
She was talking about the scratches on the table and which one wrote their name on it.
It was only then that I recognized it as the dinette table she'd had!

"I guess you need to pay a bit more attention, eh?"

Maybe...
maybe not!

"Okay, I see you have a case of midnight giggles after your drive home in the dark.
All that playing with the children has to have tired you out some."

True, that's true, especially as I don't get much practice in playing with little ones or night driving these days.
Okay, time to watch that TBBT episode with the ear worm again while I can!
TBS is doing away with it tomorrow.
I watched it three times yesterday!

"It really is a sweet episode, with the android realizing he's human."

Exactly!!!
(smile!)