Happy 4th of July Charlie Brown

I was wondering how to pass on the wonder and celebration of the 4th of July to the kids. I grew up going to Grandma's and seeing the whole family at Kuka Lake. It was a wonderful holiday frozen in time. A quaint country road lined with small summer homes with flags waving and banners draped on white picket fences. Long gravel driveways down to rustic lake beaches and wooden docks. The family would spend the day fishing, sailing an swimming. Aunts and uncles would teach the kids how to skip stones, spit watermelon seeds, and card games. Family photos and stories would get passed around after dinner until bedtime. If we were lucky there was a bomb fire for toasting marshmallows and making s'mores . On the 4th of July evening all the docks had flares set out. The lake was circled with red flickering lights. It was a timeless picture perfect family gathering. My grandparents are now great grandparents and having a harder time hosting big family gatherings in their small home so the gatherings ended a few years ago and now I'm just not sure what to do over the holiday weekend to fill the void.

This year the kids and I hung out at home. They splashed in the blow up pool while I worked in the garden. I wanted to make it a little more meaning full yet still simple. I came across a DVD I thought might help me accomplish just that. I found a Peanuts Classic This is America Charlie Brown. It is a collection of 8 patriotic Peanuts animated stories about the founding and development of the United States. For me the DVD was a moment to remember watching Charlie Brown specials as a child and the simpler times and family gatherings. For the kids it was something new and interesting to watch. They hadn't seen any of the Charlie Brown cartoons before. They really enjoyed it. They mentioned they had learned parts of some of the episodes at preschool. We only had time for 3 for 'quiet time' and they begged to see the rest for their next 'quiet time'. They were definately a hit and I'm hoping to make the DVD apart of our patritic holidays.