Jon & Kate Plus 8 - July 4th Celebrations

July 4th Celebrations
Jon, Kate and the children celebrate the Fourth of July with food and fireworks; the children play with sparklers for the first time.

~*~

The Gosselins were at the beach in North Carolina for the Fourth. They were ready to have an all day celebration, too.

The girls, Jon, and Kate headed into town to get their hair braided. Alexis wasn't too happy about getting her hair done because it pulls really hard. And Kate realized that it never occurred to her that it would hurt them. How sad that she would put her kids looks before their comfort. Mady and Cara didn't seem too happy about getting their done, matching of course. They got bribed with another hermit crab. When it was all said and done, Mady wasn't happy and the rest of the girls freaked out, too. Perhaps this is the last time the girls will get their hair done like this.

Kate relaxed all of her rules and allowed Cara and Mady to get hermit crabs. Unfortunately, Cara's died right away and she wanted to take Herbie home and bury it. So they put it in the little freezer and called it the morgue. The little kids asked who Morgue was, so Jon told them it was the cleaning lady who's name was Marge. Cute. Cara was able to get another hermit crab and she named him Herbie #2. He died, too because he was put in a shell that was too big for him. Poor Cara. It's devastating for a little kid. And Kate just didn't want to hear Cara's whining.

In keeping with the holiday theme, Kate and the girls decided to make a flag cake. Much like the one on the Cool Whip bowls. So she rounded up some strawberries, blueberries, and some cake and got all the girls together. Of course, no project would be possible without Kate ordering the girls what to do. So she gives the 3 little girls blueberries to put on in the corner. She made them only sprinkle them in the corner and kind of got upset when they strayed outside her area. Um, does it really matter? I guess it does if you want it to look like a flag, but the kids had fun. Kate did freak out only once at the end and that's when the girls started to eat the extra fruit. Kate didn't seem so happy about that. Oy. It's fruit, lady.

The big celebration dinner was going to be crab, scallops, salmon, and shrimp. While Jon and Kate were getting the food ready for the kids and Jenny the Helper was getting the kids ready for dinner. Which of course included the bibs. She did maintain their attention by showing them a fun magic trick which they all found hilarious and entertaining. Before dinner, everyone sat nicely and Leah said prayers. She was so cute! Oh I could squeeze that little peanut.

After dinner, everyone got their own flags to stick in the ground. The kids had fun and then got herded together for a family picture. Of course, that was no easy feat considering the kids didn't want to be together and completely freaked out. Everyone was able to huddle together for a picture. Once the picture was a success, the family headed to the kitchen for some dessert. It turned out yummy and everyone seemed to devour it.

Later that evening, Jon was ready to set off some fireworks, as they are legal in PA. Unfortunately, they are illegal in NC and the town sheriff drove around town warning people that they would be prosecuted if caught. So Jon put the fireworks away to set a good example for the kids. Instead of the fireworks, the kids got those little boxes of snappers. The first few seemed to be duds and didn't snap so much. Eventually, they found some that were working and the kids seemed to have fun. After the snappers, Cara and Mady got sparklers to do. The little kids were super jealous and I didn't think it was nice for the older girls to do it in front of the little kids.

Jon, Cara, and Mady seemed kind of sad that they weren't at their hometown parade. They all really wanted to set off their own fireworks and really seemed out of sorts that they couldn't do their regular routine. Both Cara and Mady just completely melted down and demanded to go home.

The day ended with everyone in pajamas sitting on the deck watching fireworks. It looked awesome and the kids loved seeing them. Their faces lit up and had fun. Adorable.

SassySarah's Review: I'm glad the family had fun. They definitely seemed to have fun being together. One thumb up.