Washington 2017 - My Brother on the 4th of July

My brother Shawn paid a visit to my mom's house last July.

My brother is the one with the hat. 

He and my other brother live in Alaska where they run a donut business. It's named after a nickname given to my sister... 

And though I haven't been up to Juneau to try it out, based on the photos it looks popular... 

And delicious!!!

Unfortunately, Shawn didn't make us any donuts during his visit. He did, however, take us to BOOM CITY, the biggest firework-selling set of stores I've ever done seen!

I've been going here for years, but when I buy stuff I like to get some firecrackers and maybe some ground flowers, the kinda stuff that could blow up an army man. Shawn got some fireworks that could blow up an actual ARMY. 

The above image is a small sample of the firepower Shawn purchased. I was unable to record the bigger ones because I was too busy being cowardly. Seriously, I was pathetic. 

Cheri and I were sitting in lawn chairs next to my nephew Cameron, and Shawn lit off the first BIG ONE. It could see it rise up in the darkness because of the sparks flaking off of the missile... and then it seemed to me it was coming back down to the ground... near us!

I thought there was going to be an explosion of professional grade fireworks right in front of our faces... so what did I do? Did I jump on my wife and shield her body with my own? Not quite. Without even thinking, I got up and ran, leaving behind Cheri and Cameron. Luckily, I was wrong about it coming back down... it exploded high in the air (but not too high -- these suckers were blowing up maybe fifty feet or so in the sky). By the time Cheri was done saying OOH and AHH, she realized that I had just instinctively ditched her. 

I didn't even know it myself until I headed back to sit down in the chair and I said something like, "Wow, that was scary how we all jumped away from that firework."

And they said, "Uh, we stayed put. You're the only one who abandoned his lawn chair." 

Good times. Shawn also taught my daughters how to hold a roman candle while it fires into the darkness. I watched with a smile... but inside I was paranoid that they were going to point it the wrong way and send a flare into their gut. It's nice to know I'm still a helicopter parent at heart. 

But Shawn did more than bring explosives into our lives... he also brought down seafood!

Fun was had by all! Well, maybe not everybody. This crab doesn't look too thrilled.