Food, Games, Friends…And The Police
Since moving into our home in 2000, we have been hosting an annual 4th of July party and had another great time this year.
This year the party started early down at a neighbors house with a round of WIFFLE ball for the kids and then a little ladder ball for the dads. The ladies didn’t venture out of the shade, opting to stay cool and have a few drinks.
Once the festivities kicked off at our house, we continued the game of ladder ball and also introduced cornhole (aka bean bag toss) for the adults. The kids kept themselves entertained with the inflatable bouncy that we have, as well as a bucket full of water guns (thanks for the idea Wendy).
After a few hours of food and games, it was time for the show.
One of my buddies has been bringing a trunk full of explosive fun to enjoy during our annual party and this year he had quite the supply. From traditional fire crackers to the huge mortar cannon, we were entertaining quite a few people with the display.
Until the police arrived.
Unfortunately, Illinois law prohibits the use of fireworks. Apparently, someone called the police and complained about our display. When the officer arrived, we had launched most of the bigger items and the kids were doing sparklers. As the officer approached, I said that I lived at the house and he explained that there is a zero-tolerance policy on the 4th of July.
“Even for sparklers and jumping jacks?“, I asked.
He explained that the sparklers and jumping jacks weren’t the problem - it was the cannon that we still had out in the street that was a problem. Unfortunately the citation for fireworks is a hefty $250 fine, which can quickly put a damper on the festivities.
The friend of mine that brought the fireworks came over and played his “I used to be a cop” card and asked for some leniency. Whether that was the reason or not we cannot say for sure, but the officer returned from his squad car without a citation and said we just needed to be careful the rest of the night.
From there we moved the party down to the park to watch the local fireworks show, which the kids thought paled in comparison to our personal show. Once that show ended, we returned home and the kids played a little ghost in the graveyard before our youngest son put a finale on the evening with a dance performance for everyone that was still awake and sober enough to see straight.
It was another fun year enjoying an afternoon with friends. With the visit from the police, all of the kids will likely be talking about this one for quite some time.
Hope everyone enjoyed a safe and happy 4th of July!
“I used to be a cop” - ha! works every time!
Glad to see you enjoyed yourself for the 4th of July! We basically did the same thing (family, friends, BARBECUE!), just minus the firecrackers. At the end of the night, we all went to watch fireworks. We’d usually sit right in front of the fireworks, but now that Jayden is in the picture, we didn’t know if his little ears could handle the loud BOOMs! So I parked a little distance away, “Mommy”, Jayden, and I all got in the backseat, and we all watched from the back window. Well, at least two of us did. Jayden slept through the whole thing!
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Lol, it is funny how the little ones can sleep right through so much commotion.
We have a huge park one block from our house that offers a great view of the fireworks, so we are lucky in that we don’t have to drive anywhere and fight the crowds. Plus we can pull a cooler along to keep us hydrated.
We watched the fireworks and listened as the multiple car alarms go off.
Lol, your comment about the car alarms reminds me of any time that I ride my Harley through a parking garage as my exhaust sets off just about every alarm in the place.
Oh, you’re one of those Harley riders huh? And when you go riding with your friends you get to ride at the back of the pack?
Lol, loud pipes save lives - and they’re just more fun.
Hey, at least you weren’t drunk enough to light some firecrackers under his car and blow it up. Now that would have been one memorable 4th of July show.
That would have brought out much more than one police car, that’s for sure. We always make sure that the people manning the lighters, or in this case the blow torch, haven’t been consuming too much.
Im sure that incident made your independence day memorable to your group:)
Sounds like you had a great time. Got lucky with the police as well.
-Matt
Sounds like a heck of a party….I’ll bet the kids thought that was pretty exciting with the cops showing up and all.
It was a good time - and the kids were talking about the cops coming to our house for most of the weekend.
….and I’m sure their memories will be refreshed about it and they will be talking about it again around this time next year.
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You’re such a bad ass Derek!
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You know it!
Man.. I need to use “I used to be a cop” to get out of a tight spot if I ever in one! Glad you didn’t get a fine
or that would have ruined the whole July 4th mood!
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Your 4th of July sounds quite enjoyable!!
Over here in LingLand, we had a much quieter time - amazingly, the kids had zero desire to see the fireworks this year (it’s probably something about having to get there 5 hours early to get a good seat) so we just stayed home and enjoyed each other’s company.
Data points,
Barbara
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I do not think that there is any place on earth that has more than a couple of homes, where there is no spoil sport who will complain. Some people just cannot see other people enjoy themselves. Some deep rooted psychological problem I guess.
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The cop indicated that the complaint was called in by someone that had trouble driving in/out of our street. Since we live on a cul-de-sac that would indicate it was a neighbor that likely called. If it was a neighbor, I don’t see why they didn’t have the decency to come down and talk to us if they felt it was a problem before calling the cops.
Oh well…what’s done is done I guess.
The chances are that your neighbor must have been fractured out of his skull and did not want anyone to know!
Nicole Prices last blog post..Digital Cameras: Deals and Discounts
yeah, we have neighbors like this too in our ‘hood. I would much rather someone come tell me first than to call the cops….
and no, ive never had the cops called on me before…im just sayin’ :p
We have those same firework laws here in Michigan. It stinks but I guess it keeps the kids safe. I wonder if ohio has a larger firework accident rate then we do?
I thought most police would just let that sort of thing go. Im sure there was a drunk driver comewhere not being pulled over.
Sounds like you had a blast!
Sorry, couldn’t resist it!
That was bad!
Sounds like a great time was had by all for the 4th! I was in FL for the weekend. I didnt want to come home…BOO!!11!!
Sounds like a great time was had by all despite the tight a-s neighbor. Petty people.
“I used to be a cop” is a bit lame, he should have said “I used to be Guy Fawkes in a previous life”….well worth the $250.
I would only consider that lame if it weren’t true!
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What a mixed day, fun with family and friends and a police questioning thrown in on the same date. Hope the cleaning up the next day wasn’t too much to handle.
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Isn’t a little sad that on the day we celebrate our “independence” that cops are out in force telling us what we cannot do?
this sound great fun and you really got lucky with the police.
Lucky Man, BTW Happy belated Independence Day:)
I don’t know how I missed this post, that’s pretty funny. I lit off a bunch of fireworks as well. In fact, my friend brought some fireworks too and shot a bottle rocket at a car; not the brightest of ideas, but we didn’t get caught for it (I didn’t approve of that of course, he was just being stupid).