We live in the country, way out 10 miles from anything (and then there’s little or nothing unless you drive about 30 miles)…so, we don’t usually participate in fireworks displays put on by local municipalities.

But, we do usually have our own fireworks show – out here in the hill country.

That was, until the fire that nearly destroyed my MIL’s front porch last year.

So, this year, when the county put up “burn ban” signs everywhere, we took heed.

hmmm, what to do with a dozen kids and another dozen “older” kids?

Aunt Tammy bought water balloons!  But, I didn’t want it to just be one big fat “mean” water balloon fight – so, I found some games online and we modified them to suit our needs.  I also want to say we had the most friendly competitions I’ve ever seen – there were winners and losers — but, they were having so much fun that no one really made a big deal out of being in either group.  Yeah for a bit of maturity and sportsmanship!

And what fun they had!

This was the run and smash game — pick up a balloon at the starting line, run it down to another line and carefully set it on the ground, then smash it with your foot.  If it broke before you smashed it, you had to start over.  The team who got all the way through first, was the winner.

Balloon towel toss game.  A balloon was placed on the towel and the team had to toss it across to their team partners, who were holding another towel.  We timed it at 2 minutes, and the team with the most successful balloons that were tossed, without breaking, were the winners.

Wet potato game.  We had any number of balloons going around the circle – if you missed the catch or the balloon popped in your hands, you were out.  By the time we were down to the final three participants, we had three balloons going – and two of the players just decided to throw their balloons at the third player – cause it was so fun.  I must make note that two of the cousins got to laughing so hard over the balloons coming and going that they both were disqualified because they couldn’t laugh and pass balloons at the same time.

Balloon belly run.  Two people had to suspend a balloon between them, on their bellies, and walk / run from the start line to the finish line and back.  If you popped your balloon, your belly got all wet and you were out.  The two girls who won?  Well, let’s just say that they used parts of themselves that were higher than their bellies – where there was a built-in cradle that held the balloon without popping it.

In the end, there were still balloons left, so we did let them throw a few at each other.  But, by that time, it was really all in fun (and not just being out to get someone) – so, except for a few wet bodies, I think it was a successful way to spend a 4th of July during a burn ban!

Next up today, a competition for the kids to see how many of the balloon pieces they can pick up out of the yard!  And yes, this time, it’s a competition with prizes!