Start a new tradition that will stay with your family always. It’s never too late to begin! Have you always wanted to plan something nice you could do as a family, but haven’t quite figured it out yet? Here are five ideas to get you started.

1. Go Fishing

You can gather everyone and go to the lake. Take the boat, or rent one. Or, just set up on the bank of the river or lake shore, or pier (depending on your location of course). Pack the fishing rods and bait and just enjoy the day together.

Once the sun goes down, chances are you’ll be close enough to watch a great firework display. Just being together for the whole day will create memories you will cherish forever.

2. Go Camping

Especially since the Fourth lands on a Saturday this year, you can make an entire weekend event out of it. Go to the lake or your favorite camping grounds…or even your own backyard if you aren’t adventurous enough or ready for a full-fledged camping trip.

Again, there are firework displays set up pretty much everywhere, so be sure to find one ahead of time and hopefully you can see it from your campground!

3. Go to the Park

Play your favorite sport together- baseball, basketball, football, soccer, etc. Bring a picnic and blankets and balls and have fun. Again, make the whole day about being together and having fun together. Even the most uninvolved teen will usually end up having fun…who can resist when fun and laughter are so contagious?

4. Have a BBQ

If you, a friend or family member have a nice big backyard (especially if anyone has a pool) have a big barbeque for the whole family. Great food, great company and an important day make for good times. Do you really need an excuse to get together?

5. Go to a Ball Game

Pack the family up to go to a ball game. There are many activities and games that take place on the Fourth that you can all enjoy. If you don’t live near a baseball stadium, or if your team is traveling, see if there is a local parade or something like that.

Many communities have large celebrations to honor our country’s birth, so bring the family and celebrate together!

Remember to bring sunscreen, blankets (it may get chilly at night), plenty of water, food, a camera to capture all of the smiles, and leave any worries behind. This is a time to have fun and celebrate and relax. There are enough days to worry and fret later, so let it all go for now.

The most important thing is being together, having fun and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

What does independence mean to you?  Make today the beginning of the BEST of your life!!!!

It’s really a shame that many of our school chidlren don’t know why we celebrate the 4th.  We celebrate it because it is America’s “Indepence Day” the day America became a free Nation.

We live in a great nation that allows us the freedom to be who we want to be.  We have the freedom to voice our opinions, the freedom to marry whom we wish, the freedom to choose our own career or start our own business, where women are free too – and are equal.

Regardless of your political views or your personal views of war -  we ask that you take the time to honor all the men and women, past and present, that have fought for your freedom

Hope you have a Happy, Safe, Fun 4th of July!

Freedom Quotes:

“Freedom means the opportunity to be what we never thought we would be.”
Daniel J. Boorstin

“The greatest lesson we can learn from the past. . . is that freedom is at the core of every successful nation in the world.”
Unknown

“Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, to assure the survival and success of liberty.”
John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.

FREEDOM ISN’T FREE — Author unknown

I watched the flag pass by one day,
It fluttered in the breeze.

A young Marine saluted it,
And then he stood at ease..

I looked at him in uniform
So young, so tall, so proud,
With hair cut square and eyes alert
He’d stand out in any crowd.

I thought how many men like him
Had fallen through the years.
How many died on foreign soil
How many mothers’ tears?

How many pilots’ planes shot down?
How many died at sea
How many foxholes were soldiers’ graves?
No, freedom isn’t free.

I heard the sound of Taps one night,
When everything was still,
I listened to the bugler play
And felt a sudden chill.
I wondered just how many times
That Taps had meant “Amen,”

When a flag had draped a coffin.
Of a brother or a friend.

I thought of all the children,
Of the mothers and the wives,
Of fathers, sons and husbands
With interrupted lives.

I thought about a graveyard
At the bottom of the sea
Of unmarked graves in Arlington

No, freedom isn’t free.

Enjoy Your Freedom!!!