The Fourth of July

The fourth of July never disappoints. It is one long fun day. I showed up a little early as I was the DJ for the day. Before I get to the pictures, I would like to thank my aunt and uncle for putting on such a great party. I was, as mentioned in previous posts, in charge of the fireworks. I think most everyone enjoyed them, but they didn't go quite as well as planned, and I was disappointed. Their were a number of technical difficulties. The touch wouldn't stay lit. I had alot of the fuses for the shells taped together in a daisy chain fashion so they would light each other in succession, but the fuses kept burning out. It was very frustrating. I also have one of the cakes for the grand finale accidentally light from sparks prematurely. But I will learn from my mistakes and try to do better next year. Well here are your pictures.
Here is Ethan laughing hysterically after throwing the dog's toy on the roof.

Borky and my aunt, Marilyn.Justin in his boat getting ready to spray us with the prop.Some how I missed out on King of the Raft. Maybe next year. Also, next year I will make sure I bring ice just specifically for the Foot In The Cooler Game.I suck at corn hole. I didn't come close to winning one game. Then again, maybe it was my partner. Nice job Borky.Jared and Borky.The honeymoon is over for Pocahontas and Tom Brady. I don't recall any harsh words while they were trying to set up their new tent, but there were a couple of cold glares.All of my nieces and nephews.Mike out on Rope Island.Later in the evening once many of the kids were gone the beer bong came out. We easily went through 40 cans of beer. At one point there was a line that formed to take your turn.Pocahonatas.Sarah and check out Tom Brady behind.Here we are at around midnight. The party really picked up a notch.There are two traditions on the fourth that I started. The first happened a good 5 or 6 years ago. My uncle Dave's birthday is July 5th. So we always stay until at least midnight to celebrate with him. The first year of Ina Gooda Da Vida was started by me. Some one was getting ready to leave and I don't remember who it was, and I convinced they to stay for one more song. So I put in the longest song I knew, Ina Gooda Da Vida. Each year we play the song, Dave plays the "air drums" during the drum solo, which is actually pretty long. This year, Dave switched over to just playing the air organ at the end of the drum solo.
The other tradition is the midnight swim out to the raft. It started on a year at least 7 or 8 years ago that was incredibly hot, and at midnight we went for a swim. It hasn't happened since. This year it started back up. But instead of at midnight it was done at 2:00 a.m. We had 8 people out there on the raft. Then the second swim took place at 3:00 a.m. Only 3 people made the 3:00 a.m. swim. Finally another group consisting of just one person made the 4:00 a.m. swim. I will let you just try and guess who the lone 4:00 a.m. swimmer was.

Here are some videos from the day.

Tom Brady jumping off the raft.

Here is Justin at Rope Island. Rather than stand on the handle, he hung from the handle and came so close to scraping his butt on the way down.

This is me out on Rope Island. What a great idea to dive (well sort of) into water that is only chest deep. Although I was hoping to swing out a little further. I threw in a couple instant replays for you.