It is that time of year again; there is 80's music blasting out of a boom box, s'mores are being roasted, you can smell the grilling from miles away, kids are dancing around with sparklers, fireworks dance in the sky while the crowd is singing "God Bless the USA," it is the Fourth of July. The Fourth of July finds itself at the top of my list of favorite holidays. Every year my family has the tradition of spending the week at the lake where countless memories are made, here are a few reasons why this may be my favorite tradition out there:
1. You get to see all of your crazy family members
Now granted my family is quite large, a little odd, and hard to handle but I would not replace them for anyone else. As soon as we all get together the conversations pick up where they left off, we share stories about our crazy lives, cook meals and most importantly have fun.
2. You spend all day on the water
Its about 10:30 and you hear the blender going, bottles clinking, and the cutting of veggies as the whole group of you prepares to aboard the boat for a day out on the lake. You lather on the sunscreen, round up the life jackets, grab your hat, and climb down the countless stairs to make the first and only ship out for the day. You end up docking with several other boats and claim your spot of relaxation.
3. The crazy amount of junk food
What do most people do when they get together? They eat...a lot. Grandma brings her famous brownies, your aunt makes her specialty dip, and dad provides the grill food. After countless trips to Walmart and the grocery store you eventually end up with an endless amount of food because you can never have enough right?
4. You get to lay out on massive floats 
Every year we managed to get a bigger and better float for the whole crew to lay on at once, with the essentials being back rests, cup holders, and of course it has to have a spot for the cooler.
5. Beautiful sunsets over the water
As cheesy as it may sound there is nothing better than sitting on the edge of the dock with your feet grazing the water and the loons floating near by at the end of the night. You look off in the distance and the sunset is beautifully reflected on the glassy lake surface.
6. All of the countless memories
The ultimate best part of spending time at the lake is the memories that come from the weekend. You will never forget that time you got thrown off the boat, or the time your dad dunked your mom in the water, and especially all of the inside jokes that come up once or twice throughout the weekend.
Thank you to my crazy wild family for all the wonderful memories, the weekend of the fourth will forever be special to me.
