Surprise Fireworks!

I. Love. Fireworks.

I probably love them more than I should, actually, but I blame all my single years on that. For some reason, I had it in my head that the best date ever was a July 4th date to see the fireworks. And the first year Ryan and I were married was the first time we were together for that day, and I could not WAIT to go see fireworks with him. {That day each year is still one of my most favorite dates with him.}

Last Saturday, Ryan had to work, and it was an extraordinarily long work day. {A million kudos, props, and thanks to the two extra people who came in on their weekend off to help so he didn't have to stay literally the ENTIRE day.} I had gone to visit his work at lunchtime, and one of his coworkers made some comment about  the two of us coming to a little nearby town to see fireworks that night.

"HA!" I said. "This guy has his heart set on painting the garage tonight, so the ONLY way we are seeing fireworks is if I figure out how to pry the paintbrush out of his hand."

You guys? I had no idea that he had already secretly planned to quit painting early to take me to the fireworks.

You should know what a HUGE deal this is. This garage project {which has taken on an entire LIFE of its own - another blog post for another day - has worn us both down to our core, and I knew he just wanted to get. the. thing. done. I wouldn't have dreamed for even one second of asking him to give up precious work time at home - work time cut short by a long work DAY - to do anything extra. I wanted him to be able to work on his project because I knew it would make him so happy to get it done.

And yet...he wanted me to be so happy to go see fireworks! Best husband ever.

So we did work all afternoon, and then we sprayed on the bug spray, grabbed the camera, the loveseat lawn chair, and hopped in the car to drive to the fireworks show!

We learned that this little town hosts fireworks every year to celebrate the end of their Little League championships. The show is sponsored by the Little League, and there were tons of people camped out on the hillside behind an old elementary school {on a PERFECT night for such things, by the way} ready to enjoy a fun display!

We met up with Ryan's coworker and some of her friends and talked with them while we waited for the fireworks to begin...and we enjoyed this stunning sunset, too!

I know you've all seen pictures of fireworks and don't need to see a layout of them to know what they look like, but I'll still share some of my favorites.

 {Check out the smoke underneath the fireworks in the picture above. This was toward the end, and they set off so many so quickly that the smoke just rolled!}

A great {FREE!} and unexpected date that I thoroughly appreciated. That Ryan Shaffer: he's a keeper!