Celebrating Independence in South Dakota

Until a few years ago, I always spent the 4th of July in Iowa. In Iowa we love South Dakota, because it's so easy to drive across the border and pick up a few illegal fireworks, take them home and shoot them off. As kids it was all about the sparklers and smoke bombs, watching the dads shoot off a couple 'big' ones, and then packing up in the car to go into town and watch the big fireworks show.

When I started spending the 4th at the Lakes, we loaded up in the boat for the fireworks festivities, and mostly didn't even bother getting our own because it was more about the margaritas and boats and the water and the people.

The last couple years, I've joined my fiance's 4th of July tradition of camping on the river on Saturday of the 4th of July weekend. It's a fantastic way to spend the weekend, on the water boating with no crowds and a safe spot on the water for the boys to shoot off their fireworks.

Unfortunately, spending Saturday night on the river means being back in South Dakota on the actual 4th of July, and I've officially decided that though I like being able to buy fireworks in SD... I don't really like that people can shoot them off.

In Dakota Dunes, once the sun goes down on the 4th of July it sounds like someone is fighting a war. The families in every third house have spent big money on the biggest fireworks they can get. Last year Adam and I thought it would be a good idea to go for walk to check out all the fireworks - we learned to stay in the house when one of them fell over and narrowly missed blowing us up along with it (it's not fun watching a rocket shooting straight at you).

And last night, I was exhausted and all I wanted to do is go to sleep. Fireworks don't make the the most pleasant sleeping noise.