mom chjapel hill logo allison carter

Ah, 4th of July. One of my favorite holidays – the ultimate birthday celebration!

And celebrating the 4th of July in our town…well, rocks. I am personally really looking forward to the excitement in Carrboro at the July 4th Celebration. I’ve been to this in years past and the amount of activity is just perfect for kids, and the amount of patriotism and small-town feel is just perfect for parents. (You can read a full review of this event at Mom in Chapel Hill.)

IMG_2387Of course, there is also a grand spectacular fireworks celebration to be seen in Chapel Hill later in the evening. I love hearing those big booms echo magnificently off the bleachers in Kenan.

But let’s be honest, we’ve been getting a ton of rain lately. Parents you know that rain means indoors. Ugh.

So let’s talk for a minute about what you can do if it rains on your parade… and fireworks. It gets hard enough to entertain children inside all day every day due to the gloom, it is even harder when it is a holiday that usually calls for burgers and cornhole (is that last one just me?).

Now I believe that the 4th will showcase the glorious, sultry, oppressive sunny heat we all know and love about NC summers, but just in case, some thoughts….

    • Over at Moms Have Questions, Too you can get a couple of really fun indoor games to celebrate the holiday such as Roll-a-Flag and Taffy Pull.
    • The Shopping Mama has a wonderful round up of crafts you can do with your kids, indoors, to celebrate the holiday.
    • It wouldn’t be right to consider a rainy 4th of July holiday without some patriotic movie suggestions. Alas, all the patriotic movies I can think of tend to be wildly inappropriate for kids (lots of war, bloodshed, sacrifice, etc. etc.). Plus we are slightly addicted to Thomas and SuperWhy! in this house and I haven’t ventured much past those. I did, however, find this at About.com and this list over at Kaboose.com has some movies for older kids, too. Kaboose may repeat some of the picks from About.com but it also mentions Music Man – be still my heart.
    • If all else fails, WUNC-TV and PBS pull through. You can watch A Capitol Fourth on TV starting at 8:00 p.m. I have seen A Capitol Fourth in person, friends, and it is moving and full of talent.

 

Whatever happens, whatever the weather, remember that the 4th of July is about gorging on too much wonderful food (like hot dogs), enjoying friends and family, and being thankful for the phenomenal democracy and country we live in.

Happy 4th!