I don't really do normal, and that's OK

Last week, one of my coworkers asked me what our plans were for the Fourth of July weekend. And it threw me a bit off guard. You see, I have ways to celebrate Christmas Eve and birthdays and other holidays, but we don't really have a family tradition for the Fourth of July.

Clearly, that has to change.

But, it can't be normal, because I don't want to do normal. Normalcy is not really the way to build memories that you hold onto throughout your life. So, here's what I've come up with:

• We're going to have a picnic lunch. Sure, this seems normal enough, but not really for my family. We just don't do picnics. But we are for this holiday. Then,
• We're going to have a water fight. This is something that I've often told my husband I want to do. One day my son will come home from school to a bucket filled with water balloons and a directive to come and find Mommy who has a water gun...but let's start off light. It'll probably be hot, so this will be super fun.
• Let's have a cookout, but let our son pick the food. Kind of a spin off on our Wednesday family night dinners. I want to cookout, but he can pick the menu.
• Covering ourselves in glow sticks to watch the fireworks. Because they are glow sticks and fun, and why not?

Hopefully, my husband is up for all of this. (He's a good sport.)

For my U.S. friends, have a happy, wonderful holiday - no matter how you choose to enjoy it. (How did you choose to enjoy it? Tell me in the comments so I can borrow ideas and continue to evolve our family traditions for next year.)