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Fox Rent A Car

When I was little my father used to take my two little brothers and I to a baseball game once a year. We always sat in the nose bleed sections, but regardless had a blast. It quickly became a tradition in our family to sing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at the top of our lungs before the start of each game.

One summer while visiting my grandmother, we attended church on the Sunday before Independence Day. The church congregation sang "The Star-Spangled Banner", and after everyone sat down, my brother Tony yelled out at the top of his lungs, 'Play ball.'

To this day, my entire family gives a little chuckle and a secret look anytime the Star Spangled Banner is played. Ahhhhh, memories....

I came to the United States in the August of 2005 and I had no idea what the date 4th of July meant in this country. But I knew very well what it meant to me; it was my birthday. So, in any occasions that involved asking about the birth date, I would receive a comment and since I couldn't even get the main idea of the comment (because of my not-so-good listening skills) I would just react with a smile or at most with saying 'yeah!'. It had become a big question for me as to what's is with my birthday; Do I look too young or too old? And then came the 4th of July of 2006 and it was only then that I got the answer. Now, it's been five years that I share my birthday celebration with this greater celebration of a wonderful nation.

It was a memorable July month. My son and my dearest wife went for holiday and it was a memorable experience. Experience of Fox rent car was amazing and i recommended my friend to join. It was such a wonderful day. Thanks fox.

My 2 year old son, husband, and myself were laying on a blanket watching the fireworks show over the lake. It was about a 30 minute spectacular show, in which my son was mesmerized. After it was done, he looked up at us and said " I saw the movie, but where was the castle in the beginning, and how come Buzz and Woody were not their?) He was referring to the Disney castle at the start of Toy Story the Disney movie he is used to watching, with the fireworks going off all around out. We had a good laugh, it's funny how kids perceive things sometimes.

A good number of years ago on the Fourth of July I spent the night at my Grandma’s house. Cousins, Uncles, and Aunts all gathered for a family dinner. After dinner the gambling began in tables of fours as the “adults” played mahjong for hours. Sometime during the night my sister noticed a cloud of smoke rise from the backyard and she began to panic, yelling out “FIRE FIRE!” The entire family was alerted and chaos erupted everywhere.

A fire had been started by local fireworks on the hill behind our backyard. As fire trucks began to arrive, people were screaming and running around with no sense of direction. All I remember was my Uncle yelling, “Grab all the money! Pack the diamonds and gold! Hurry! The house is burning down!.” As half my family was inside the house carrying out the orders in fear, the other half was standing outside in the backyard staring at the fire and chatting. Within 10 minutes, the fire was put out. The rest of us, who was finished being entertained by the fire, coolly walked into the house and witnessed my Uncle standing on the couch pointing and barking out orders next to four full sized suitcases. Seeing the terrified faces of my cousins and aunts as they ran around the house trying to pack, we all looked at each other bursting in laughter.

The funniest 4th of July story is that I don´t have any funny 4th of July story because I am from Spain!

WOW Where do I begin..Imagine being refered to as HOHOHO!!!!!For the rest of your life.Yea well let me tell you It's not quite what you think!I lived in Las Vegas at the time and very very single.My girlfriend was celebrating her 21st birthday on July Fourth and we were all very exited because she was having a barbeque and fireworks to celebrate.but wait..There were lots of single men there and available...oh yea..As I was getting ready for this very important night I realized I was wearing my period underwear and yes every woman has some and there normally not the cutest..I wasn't even on my period what was I thinking...uuugg..I was wearing this cute top with a silk skirt just praying no one gets a glimpse of them..Well it was time for fire works and of course there is always that one guy that acts real stupid and he thought he was cool..He brought some of his own fire works ROMAN CANDELS...Even now it makes me shiver.Him and a couple of the other guys started a roman candel fight shooting them at eachother...During the fight one of them somehow got aimed at me..It him me right in the BUT!!! My silk skirt stared to burn and melt..worried about my flesh I completly forgot about my panties..Once things calmed down some of the guys started yelling HOHOHO Merry Christmas...I finally realized they were able to see my christmas granny panties that were now exposed because the back of my skirt was completly melted up to my waste.As I walked the very much so walk of shame to the car that was four blocks away.People that were walking behind me had nothing to say but HOHOHO!!!

a few years back on the 4th of july weekend, some of my cousins,sister and me went to the beach. We were all enjoying laying in the sun and decided to finally go in the water. Well my cousin and me decided to go further into the water than the rest of the girls..little did we imagine that we would get caught in the current and were struggling to swim out of it. Before you know it I feel the lifeguard tugging on my arm trying to pull me in. Finally after awhile I finally feel my feet touch the ground and am able to walk out of the water with no major damage and as I look up looking for my cousin I see she is already out of the water with a weird look on her face I thought it was from the experience we just had but then all of the sudden her and the resot of the group started to crack up..like what the heck we almost died and they are laughing!!!
Soon I realized why they were laghing so hard when I felt a breeze hit my chest area and of course the lifeguard saying "maam you might want to adjust yourself alittle!!! OMG so embarassing my bathing suit top had let one of my "girls" slip out into the open for everyone to see!!! never again will I wear a 2 piece bathing suit!!! hahahahaa...every 4th of July its always ...hey Maribel remember when you exposed yourself at the beach!!! ugh!!!

It was 2 years ago. I was arguing with my son about why he cant hold a fire cracker in his hand. He said but the other kids are doing it so here I go thrying to show him how to pop the fire cracker and as soon as I lite the fire cracker it pop right in my hand an blew my nail off. He laughed as we went to the hospital talking about mom i could have done it better than that I all ready did it before. Parents just when you think you know what your kids are doing they never seem to amaze me. I wanted to kick his butt as he laughed an walked away.

I live in the Los Angeles area where everyone flocks to the beaches on the 4th of July to enjoy the sun, the surf and the fireworks.

Several years ago, my family had plans to enjoy the early part of the day with family in Long Beach and hang out with friends in Marina del Rey later that evening to enjoy the fireworks show.

We left Long Beach just before dusk and were scheduled to arrive in Marina del rey just in time for the fireworks. Well, in true Los Angeles fashion...we got stuck in traffic. Literally! We headed north on the 405 Freeway and transitioned to the 90 Freeway to head west. And then we were stuck - it was a complete roadblock.

Apparently, everyone else in our great city had our same idea. The 90 Freeway was jammed packed with parked cars, people were outside their cars, there was music blasting from car radios and everyone was enjoying the fireworks displayed in the dark sky.

After the initial shock, we joined forces and let our kids hang out of the sunroof and enjoy the show!

The memorable college Fourth of July weekend ever. My friends and I made some plans to take a road trip for our 4 July vacation in Los Angeles. Therefore, we took a road trip to visit some friends at UCLA. It would take us 6 hours to get to our destination. During one of our gas stops one of our friends really had to use the bathroom. The restaurant was putting up new stickers panels on their windows, glass walls so all their window entrance, and doors had no stickers on the window. Our friend Kenny who need to use the bathroom so bad got out of the car and started running full speed to take care of some major business not noticing a glass wall was directly in front. He was running so fast that could not stop by the time he notice there was a glass wall in front of him he ended up slamming his whole body to the window and fell to the ground, leaving his face imprint on the window. It looked so painful but so funny. We could not stop laughing about it on a way to Los Angeles and back home from the trip. It was so funny we all still talk about this incident until today.

The funniest fourth of July is when all the family got together to go on a great big camping trip. I was barbquing when all the kids got together and decided to attack the cook with there Super Soakers and soaked me really good head to toe but, the joke ended up on the kids because after I finished cooking the kids were sitting down to eat and I got revenge by getting one of there super soakers while they weren't looking and soaked all of them one by one running and laughing and all the family joined in on the fun just having a wonderful time that was a really great fourth of July.

Many years ago I was a new bride trying to impress my in-laws with my fashion sense. When we were invited for a 4th of July outing I put on my whitest whites with a red/white/blue rhinestone T and flip flops. Little did I know the "outing" would be a down and dirty small town rodeo. I spent the rest of the day tip toeing around you know what on the ground and came out smelling like a . . .

Two years ago my wife and her three sisters were performing (singing) for a forth of July concert in Central California. My sister in law Erika was wearing a Sarong and during the performance she felt something slipping down her waist, but before she could catch it in time they were around her ankles.... she was so embarrassed. What's worse is the majority of the women watching were 'Amish' they were even more embarrassed.

Last 4 of july my son alessandro wants some Firecrakers and i buyhim like 200 dolars put everityng in the bag the thing He put some Maches in the bag and run to out side whit a grup of kit he dont want to sare his firecrakers so they Fire by the Maches all at one i never se 200 dollars go so fast in my life but it was good show tanks

My funniest 4th of July memory goes back about 7 years ago. We walked down to the Lake to watch the fireworks. We found a nice grassy area a couple blocks away from the lake and crowds. We waited patiently for the 9PM show. Well 9 turned into 9:15, then 9:30 and finally 10. My husband walked down to where the crowds should have been to be told be another person the there was a pyrotechnic problem and the fireworks were accidentally set off at 3 in the afternoon. Luckily is was a lovely night out and a nice night for a walk.

The memorable July 4th we had was 30 years ago, when 6 couples decided to take boats and ski's to the lake for the day. All the girls got together to decide on the food. I made great fried chicken, so volunteered to make it for everyone. Everyone else brought side dishes. Well I spent the night before frying chickens to have plenty and then refrigerated it overnight and put it in a cooler in the trunk of the car. Little did I know my husband decided to put a 5 gallon can of gas in the trunk also for the boat. When it was time to eat, the chicken had absorbed the gasoline smell and was awful, so all we had for lunch were the side dishes. I was so mad at my husband that I haven't fried chicken since. We are still talking and laughing about it today.

Every July 4th, during the hot Chicago summer in the 1960s, my extended family gathered to celebrate. It is also my father’s birthday. Home made ice cream was a highlight of the party, with the adults setting the children up with several hand-churned ice cream makers. My cousins and I spent hours in the sun with ice and salt, plugging away until the paddles indicated the ice cream was set. We were all convinced this task was fun – until much later, when we realized we were, in effect, child labor. The adults were off enjoying other pursuits. The nominal payoff for the (literal) grunt work was having an opportunity to lick the paddle when it was removed from the barely set ice cream.

This July 4, I’ll be celebrating my dad’s 92nd birthday with him – and my new ice cream maker. This one churns away all by itself to produce a similar product. Similar – but definitely not as good. I’m so glad I have those memories, and the opportunity to eat the real thing with my dad on his birthday.

One 4th of July when I was about 13 my family decided that we would do our own fireworks. So my older cousin was trying to light a firework but it wouldn't work. we thought that maybe the lighter was just catching too much wind so he tried to cover it with one hand after he seen it still wasn't lighting we just thought it was a dud, but he still decided to give it one more try and he picked it up to light it ( it was one of those small colorful bouncing fireworks) as he tried to light it in his hand it went off and sparked his finger and he threw it just as a car was driving by and it landed on top of there car and we all started running after the car to tell them a firework was on top of there car!!!

I went on a river rafting trip on a 4th of July weekend with 30+ friends. We reserved a campsite at Lake Isabella. We were going to raft down the upper Kern River in California.

My friend had a FANCY 3 bedroom tent with entry way. Since he had such a FANCY tent I thought that he knew what he was doing when we were putting up the tent. He put up the tent parallel with the shoreline instead of the entrance facing the shoreline so that your feet slopes down toward the lake.

After dinner and dancing, a friend of mine was supposed to sleep with two other girls, but they wandered off to bed without letting her know which tent was theirs. I told her that she had two choices. To go tent to tent to find their tent or she can sleep with us (3 guys) in the big tent. She decided to sleep with the guys.

Well, she was on the lowest end of the tent, I was next to her and the other two guys above me. It was HOT that night that I fell asleep on top of the sleeping bag. I guess that during the night I would move and roll on top of my friend (without knowing it). When she woke up the next morning, she told everyone that I kept rolling on top of her during the night and that she kept pushing me off. I did not remember a thing.

One of the guys Wil, in our tent, SNORES big time and people from the other tents said that they heard a strange sound that sounded like a bear or BIG animal during the night. We all knew that Wil snores LOUD. My friend told everyone that I was snoring louder than Wil. I told her that was because I was right next to her so it sounded like I was snoring louder than Wil.

Everyone had a laugh during breakfast and we had a great time rafting and a lot of fun on our trip.

On the fourth of july we have had a large gathering at my house in port richey, florida. my brother-in-law worked the night shift at helen ellis hospital in tarpon springs in the emergency room as a phone dispatcher. i called the emergency line and knowing his voice i knew it was him who answered the phone.disquising my voice and in a loud panicky voice i explained that i was lighting up a bottle rocket and by mistake it shot up into my shorts and got stuck in my rectum. his first response was to hangup and dial 911, however i was able to keep him on the phone for a long while all the time screaming as in pain until i finaly could not hold back my laughter. he the knew who i was and hung up in a fit of rage. today that story gets many laughs between us. true story!

As a young teenager, I grew up on a large recreational lake where a local pyrotechnic company provided fireworks displays from the middle of the lake three times each summer: Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. On one Independence Day, they canceled, citing the high probability of thunderstorms. My neighbor decided that he would take on the project himself. His dad would not allow him to use their new powerboat, so he figured his old rowboat would suffice.

As dusk approached with no thunderstorms around, my friend started the display. Some of the fireworks actually worked well, bringing oohs and aahs from the crowd lining the shore. However, one of them, a sidewinder, shot straight toward our house but crashed harmlessly on the embankment below the house. Then the final one exploded in the canister, blowing a hole in the bottom of his rowboat. As the boat began to sink, we could hear him yell for help until he finally abandoned ship, swimming to shore with only his swimming trunks and his embarrassment intact. He finally admitted that the laughs were well worth the effort.

He never offered to perform fireworks displays again.

my best july 4th story was hanging out with this really cute girl watching the fireworks. i had her sweatshirt. we were playing around, wrestling etc and it was very funny and all, a real wonderful night and memory. later she told me it wasn't cool that i didn't give her her sweatshirt because it was getting cold. i told her she was right and i was sorry (i just didn't think of it or get the hint). and we eventually got married.

Definetely, our most excitement America birthday celebration was in 1996. That year all the Rodriguez family (my wif and my two kids) become american citizens and we decide to celebrated as real welcomers to Unite States of America. What we did? We went to big parade in San Francisco City, enjoy all the enterteiment events and expect the fireworks at waterfront seeing that marvelous display.
Obviously, we enjoy all the food and beverages singing the national anthem as sons of this freedom country.

The company I work for is located in a 12 floor office building that is elevated on a hill overlooking the city of Atlanta. We have a beautiful view of the skyline and our buildings roof is the perfect place to watch the 4th of July fireworks that happen all over the Atlanta metro area. Last year the building management chained off the roof and issued a memo that for liability reasons "there will be no more roof access". About 10pm on the 4th I recieved a phone call from my boss who had a party of 20 people with him. It seems he cut the chain and got on the roof to party with his friends and watch the light show but when the door closed it locked and could only be opened from the inside of the building. They were trapped, full of beer, no bathrooms and yelling from the roof to the people passing by below. The best fireworks in Atlanta happened inside our company offices on the 5th of July and they were priceless!

It was fourth when we went to Disneyland which was our first time. We went so early and we were amazed how huge the Disney garage was. We were so excited and started walking to the entrance and stayed in there up until 10PM. Again, when we went back to the garage we were again amazed because the garage is full of cars and we can't find our car. We had to wait for all the cars to leave before we were able to find our car... Hope this will win ;0)

The funniest 4th of July when was we told some really good jokes.

Twenty years ago i came to this country as a student and pretty happy to be in USA. So i try to get ready for my first 4 july. I remember all this happened in Boca Raton, Florida.... my wild years at college (F.A.U). I got the grill, hod dogs, beer, fireworks... music ..... next thing i know i got to much to drink..... i slept for 36 hours...... so much for my first forth of july....
I was told by my friends that after all .... i got the wrong date...
it was...... Memorial DAY....
To this day i tell my kids.....all us citizen.. please always to celebrate 4 of july for the want I got wrong.

It was 4th of July and it's time for shopping. I arrived in LAX on the the 3rd of July from Manila and i rented thru FOX rent a car. The next day I woke up early to drive to Camarillo outlet store to get the early bird special discounts. I shopped like crazy. I think i went to almost every store.....until suddenly a friend of mine said. Its cheaper if you buy much later because they give more discounts. So I thought about it so i returned everything to the shops and i waited until after lunch. While waiting I saw my friend saying what happened to your stuff....i said i returned it because you said its better to buy much later. He said he was joking so i was so pissed. Then went back to grab eveything. a lot of the stores had a promotion the 1000th customer for the day wins 500 dollars. Believe it or not i won 3 of those stores. I said to my friend who has the last laugh now....hehehe

About 30 years ago I decided to entertain the family for the 4th with a spectacular fire works display at my father in-laws back yard. I had bought a large box of fire works full of a verity of stuff to raise the eye brows of any who dared to watch. As the sun finally set all was excited for me to begin. I took the advice from my friends who told me about the dangers of such an event and prepared an area far from the family for there safety. I had no lighting so I took a flashlight to see. it was a clear night, no clouds and I could not wait to start. I said to myself, " lets start with something small and work up to the finish with a big BANG, ahh lets see how about that roman candle." I lit the candle and the show started. There's the first one, second, third. I can hear the clapping and cheering everyone was happy. As the firing balls exploded on lunch high into the night sky and fell back to earth, a stray found it's way back to the spot to the box of fire works. "OH NO", I ran for cover. BANG, BANG, BANG, you should of been there. Rockets, cherry balls, M-80's, candles, everything I had went up, up, up, people where on the feet yelling, cheering and clapping. More, more, more, we want more. After the smoke and fire I went back and told them the bad news. That's it folks.

It was last 4th of july i went with my girlfriend family to the beach to watch all the fireworks there, it was amazing, but during the day time, my girlfriends father was in the ocean, and we were watching him having fun, then all of sudden he turned his back on the ocean and was kinda far out, and boom he got toppled over from a huge wave, we cried so much from laughing, but in the end he wasnt all right, he actually had to be taken to the hospital, but returned in an hour, and was like yah. I will make sure never to turn my back on the ocean, make a great story teller when ever we all get together.

Two years back my family and I were returning to San Jose, CA from Las Vegas after an enjoyable July 4th long weekend. When the plane landed in the airport, we took our bags and came out of the gate. We then proceeded to the baggage claim area to get our checked in baggage. The area looked very different from the San Jose air port. However, my wife convinced me that the airport has been remodeled!
Well, after waiting for some time for our baggage to come, we contacted the airlines. To our surprise, the representative said that we are in a place called Ontario, CA and not San Jose, CA. When we boarded the plane in Las Vegas, we thought that the plane is stopping at San Jose and then going to Ontario, Canada. We never knew that a place called Ontario exists in California. The plane had a stopover in Ontario, CA before the final destination at San Jose, CA.
What a mess! Everyone including the airport representatives laughed and laughed. We managed to get another flight and reached San Jose. We can never forget this funny and embarrassing situation, especially during July 4 weekend.

My 4th of July moment has been a favorite past time of mine. my family has always loved celebrating the 4th at our local marina where we always went fishing. Now i was about 10-11yrs old and my uncle was trying to show me how to hold a pole and how to cast out i got it down for a while and i was doing it on my own. My uncle had caught a baby shark so i wasn't paying attention to what i was doing so i cast my line out and didn't realize it had gotten caught on a passing boat so my line obviously took off my uncle grabbed my pole and tried to reel it in not knowing it was on a boat the line snapped and pole went hurling back knocked my uncle flat on his butt. when we realized what had happened we all burst out laughing. That day is one day i will never forget. fun times.

Skinny Tubing Story

Four Years ago I borrowed my buddies boat for the fourth because my grandfather was coming down from New York and I thought it would be great to have a nice picnic with the family on the lake and later watch the fireworks. We get everything set up at the picnic site and the boat in water and a huge summer thunderstorm with high winds came through blowing many things in water, luckily most was salvaged. Summer downpours usually only last up to 30 minutes so storm passed and we started to have a great time, until later, my shorts came off while water tubing behind boat at 25 mph. Here I am skinny dipping in the lake with a boat full of people. Ahh but the best part is that the truck keys were in my short pockets along with the house keys. I could not get boat out of water until I get locksmith to make another key(3 hour wait). Oh but wait there is more. How about waiting for a tow truck with nothing on but a towel at 11:00 at night because my transmission went out on the way home.

Well in July of 2007 I was deployed with 1st LAR BN. Marine Corps, and we just finished celebrating our freedom in another country. We had hamburgers & hot dogs for our dinner - non-alcoholic beer! We made a huge fighting pit and filled it with water. We had a wrestling tournament with two-man teams. Four teams in the pit at once. The ceremony was ended and all the troops were heading back to their living quarters for the night. The sun just went down so wasn't completely dark yet. Then, all Of A SUDDEN - the camp starts taking Mortar rocket fire from the enemy. So, everybody is scrambling to their living quarters to take cover and get our protective equipment on our bodies. I'm inside my tent just listening to the mortars hit all around me, just praying it's not my time. About 3 minutes passed then the firing stopped dead silence. I think this is the scariest/weirdest BEST 4th of July story around and should win this contest for my country, the SAME way I served it.

My funnies 4th of July was last year when I purchase a new home an was trying to have the family for the 4th of July at the new home and of course as many of you know it didnt happen NO ELECTRIC and we finish camping in the back yard 20 members of the family and still work out GOOD and FUN.....

It's Fourth Of July!Itz celebration time for America.This day America was reborn.So it's time to wish America 'Happy Birthday' also!I wish every american resident to celebrate .

This is my 2 nd participation for america's birthday,hope will enjoy better than the 1st.

The funniest thing that happened to me on the 4th of July was back about 7 years ago. We went to the fireworks show in Westminster,Colorado at the recreation center and had a spot up on this hill.. We were sitting there and all these people kept walking past us looking up at the group sitting right up from us and we could not figure out what was the big deal.. So my wife asked me to go check it out,so I walked up about 25 feet and it was Pete Rose with some of his family from Denver...I went down and told my wife that Pete Rose is sitting up there and she goes who is that.. anyway I went over by him and sat down and talked with him for a few minutes and got his autograph..Pete Rose( the hit king)..it was pretty amazing but very funny at the time..

My funny 4th of July story happened when I was around 12. We had this neighbor who was reaaaaly mean. He also drank alot. About 2wks before the 4th he got mad at my oldest brother for stepping on his grass so he poisoned our dog Squilla. My brother was really hurt because we had had Squilla since my brother was around 8 yrs old.(he was about 16 then)..anyway, out parents took us to buy fireworks (they were legal in LA then) We never saw what my brother Oliver bought until the big day. Our neighbor was a little tipsy and was working in his flower bed. My brother walked up behind him and said hello. The next thing we knew our neighbor was jumping around screaming with a backpocket full of lit firecrackers! All the neighbors got a good laugh because he was always complaining, bullying and doing cruel things. Needless to say, he never messed with us again! Everytime I hear a firecracker to this day...I'm now 60, I think of Mr. Warmsly jumping around like a cartoon.

In Hawaii, it is a tradion to pop firecrackers like crazy on New Years Eve and the 4th of July. In the evening time the Island skies are usually blanketed in a thick cloud of black smoke. Every household spends a pretty penny on firecrackers. Growing up in Hawaii, you learn to burn fireworks and firecrackers of different sizes and sounds. I always thought I was a pro at burning fireworks since I practiced it a lot as a kid. However, after having three children I felt I had outgrown the excitement. Two years ago on the Fourth of July, my oldest daughter asked me to burn some firecrackers with her. I was feeling good after a few sips of my wine and happily agreed. She started to break the packs of firecrackers to find the fuses and laid them all out on the table in front of us. Soon after I grabbed one from the table and decided I was gonna light it with my punk and throw it high into the air like pros do. Its mostly for the glory of being able to hold the firecracke, light it and then throw it. Well, after I lit the firecrackers, I got a little flustered and threw my punk high into the air and dropped my fireworks right on the table in front of me. All the firecrackers started to go off as me and my 15 year old daughgter took off running. It was a glorious sight tho, only our celebration was shorter without any more fireworks to burn. Dont think my daughter will ever ask me to burn firecrackers with her again.

18 years ago on July 4th my wife Julie gave our new 2 week old puppy to new owners. Our two little boys (2 and 6) were heart broken. and we had one exhausted guilt ridden mommy. Low and behold that very same day a beautiful stray cat came up to the back door and meowed. The boys latched onto the cat who was about 2 years old but Julie is allergic to cats (visiting her sister meant they had to lock their 2 cats in the garage) and I had given up on ever having another one when I married her, but this one was special and the boys and I pleaded with Julie to let us "feed it and take care of it". Julie finally acquiesced but said "it stays outside". The cat had other ideas and boldly came into the house. "Gooey" peed on Julie the first day but over time slowly took over the house became a family member and then years later slept on Julie's head. She lost her allergic reaction and this week Gooey died in Julies arms at 4am after 18 wonderful years. We will always remember that July 4th, 1992.

July 4th, 2009 the weather was beautiful. The streets nearby the beach were mobbed with people of all ages waiting for the fireworks to go off. I walked through them with my friends carrying two glittery hula hoops. Often people stopped me to try them out. Watching everyone's technique was entertaining! My favorite was an 8 year old little girl who walked up to me and said, "Excuse me, I like your hula hoops!". Which I replied to with, "Thank you, would you like to try one" She clasped her hands together and told me she was too scared. After some encouragement she pulled one over her head and held it in the air around her waste. I eagerly waited to see her wing it around and try to keep it going. But, instead she exclaimed again that she was scared. Then she returned the hula hoop and went back over to her family. About 20 minutes later she appeared again in front of me. This time she told me she was ready to try it. So, again I gave her a hula hoop, watcher her pull it over her hea,and hold it in the air around her waste. Just when I thought it was time to see what this little girl could do, she says, "NO! I'm too scared!".

I'll never understand what made her so afraid to try to hula hoop, but she was adorable!

In 1969 I was 8 years old, and my family (Dad, Mom, 2 brothers and a sister) would go down to Long Beach Island at the Jersey Shore for a month every Summer. We had the beach on one side and the Bay on the other, with just 7 blocks between. On this fourth of July we spent the entire day at the beach until dinner time.

I had been Ocean swimming since I was about 5 years old, and not afraid of body surfing (no board) in the big waves with my Dad and older brother. The waves crested between 25 and 30 yards out, so if you got high in the curl, you could possibly ride the wave all the way in to shore, and scrape your chest on the sand. Sometime the wave caught you just as it was about to hit shore and would give you a good tumble.

At dinner time, we got everything packed up and as the family was leaving, I told my folks that I was going to go back in the water to rinse thesand off my body. They said they'll se me at home in a few minutes. We were amongst the last people left at the beach at that time, as everyone else had gone home earlier or were leaving then too.

As I went back to rinse off, I could see a series of waves that looked too good to pass up; so I swam out to get one last good ride (or 2) for the day.

Well, I caught the first wave and rode it a full 30 yards into the shore. I went right back out tosee if I could get just one more and
Sure enough I got inside the wave. It propelled me fast towards the beach, and right before the shore, it threw me down and tumbled me so hard that my trunks came off.

I searched for about 15 minutes but couldn't find them, so I was standing waist deep in the ocean, NAKED.

I looked up and down the beach, but there was no one to help me out; so I finally mustered up the guts to make a run for the trash can which was about 40 yards from the shore line.

I ran through the sand (not easy) stark naked to that trash can and looked for something big to cover me up. To my horror, everything was coverd in ants, so I covered my privates with my hands and ran towards my house which was three blocks away.

It seemd like everyone was on their front porch laughing at me as I went by bare-butt. I was soooooooooo embarassed. Then to make things worse, My dad and sister were at the corner of my block walking towards the beach to come and get me, because I had taken so long. I yelled for her to turn around and go home as I got closer to them; but she did not do it right away. They, and the neighbors were laughing so hard at what they were seeing.

Finally, my day took off his shirt and allowed me to wrap it around my self and we walked home.

The rest of that summer I was known as Butt-Boy !!!

As we

The 3rd of July is my Dads birthday and we always celebrate 4th of July weekend. One year we went camping and decided to go on a hike. When we got back we found about 5 squirrels eating not only all our food, but had eat up my dads birthday cake as well! He was so mad.

Upon my husband's return from Afghanistan, I rented a Cadillac CTS(one is his dream cars). On the day I picked him up at the SeaTac airport, I of course took the CTS to pick him up. I met him at the luggage pickup area, we then went to the parking garage. He appeared to be looking for my car(a minivan-of course). I pointed out the row that I parked at. When we got close to the CTS, I used the remote to open the trunk -my husband kind of jumped back and looked to see if someone was approaching the now opened CTS. I told him"I traded the van in" "its my car". His face was priceless! He looked a mix of happiness and of shock. I then told him of course-before he started to drill me on why did i buy a CTS and how much are the new car payments, etc-that I rented it for his return! He was really surprised!

My family and I were visiting Great Adventure in New Jersey and touring the animal park. We had a volkswagen at the time and the kids were piled in for the tour. During that HOT summer day and no airconditioning we opened all the windows during the tour. Yes, this is a no no. During the tour, animals came up to the car and licked it and then.... an elephant decided he was going to take a seat on the front of the car. Luckily that was the trunk but- it lifted the rest of the car and crunched the trunk. After attendants came over and removed the elephant we were stranded in New Jersey and had to get a rental car for the rest of our trip. But, that wasn' the end of the excitement- a couple of the kids went on the raging log flume ride and it began to rain- they got stranded at the top and the log began to fill up with water. We were terrified on the ground to say the least. After about 40 minutes which seemed like a life time the log began to move and the kids were delivered to us- drenched! We laugh about this now- but then it was no joke.

Aah, I'll never forget that lovely fourth of July in Seattle. I had landed in Seattle for an extended stay, and the least expensive rental company was Fox, my first encounter. Working with the military, we often have to resort to least-expensive, technically-acceptable which includes Fox Rent-a-Car. The guy behind the counter was such a prick, and was wearing clothes which seemed to be on loan from consignment, covered by a Fox jacket. Still, the smell was distinct and wasn't overpowered by the overall stench of the poorly formed Fox Rent-A-Car counters.

Aah, that lovely fourth of July, wasted on Fox Rent-a-Car. Now, if they'd just stop sending me promotional crap I *NEVER* wanted without having to TELL them I don't want their promotional crap... Wouldn't that be a fourth of July worth remembering?

In 2003, "Finding Nemo" came and my friends and I were fishing in the Puget Sound in Washington and planning a big fireworks show for all our friends on the beach in the San Juan Islands. Normal day, not much biting, we are trolling with my 80 lb. test line because of the strange current going on.

All of a sudden I have something on the line....and it was huge! I have never fought any fish for more than 45 minutes before. After about an hour of trying to real in “the big one” I was simply exhausted and we got boat positioned for the final pull. Long story short, I went overboard. I still kept the pole in my hand, gave it to my friend, got in the boat and pulled it in. Well, it was big alright, it was a big eight foot piece of sunken drift wood that had been whipping around a few feet under the surface of the water.

I got dry and we went into shore totally exhausted. Sat in my camping chair in front of the fire and fell asleep. We dragged the log into shore so other boats wouldn't hit it submerged in the water.

I didn’t wake up for 10 hours, missed the big bbq and fireworks. When I woke up at 4am all I could see was my big prize staring at me. My friends had dug a hole in front of me while sleeping, placed the log literally between my feet, and carved......."Fish Are Friends, Not Food!". Just like the line in the movie Finding Nemo…......wink.

Fox Rent A Car Fouth of July Laughs Promotion:

Haliy's Comets and Artilery Sells are What Little Girls are Made Of

BANG! BOOM! Crackle! Fireworks in the sky and neighborhood kids lighting bottle rockets in the street. It was a typical ordinary fun filled small town fourth of July in East Helena, Montana. I was about 10 and my dad was showing off the cornicopia of fireworks he had brought back for us kids. Our eyes glistened as the fountains flared and whislters flew over our heads.

A little weary of the Hailey's Comet I was about to light, my hand shaking with fear, the flame scorched the fuse. I ran from the firework towards the yard and BANG! A fire ball flies into the air, and the Haily's Comet TIPS OVER aiming itslef right at us! The remaining 8 fireballs shoot randomly at everyone in the front lawn, who are all now fleeing for their lives from the Haily's Comet Fire Balls!

After things calmed down and that close call my dad was getting ready for the grandfinally. Lined up in the street in front of my grandmother's house were five atillery shell cannons. Each one of us with our burning punk 3-2-1 and like clockwork they shoot into the sky...Except the one I happend to, once agian, knock over. Only this time it lit up the field in front of grandma's house, I had never seen dry grass burn so fast!

The fire department came, put out the fire, and it was extremely embarassing. And when the firemen and nieghbors were asking who had done this... my dad pionted at us group of kids smiling and said..."The blonde one"!

...Flying into Seattle for the 4th and this would be a dream! I hope you enjoyed reading about old times and most of all, I hope you got a good laugh.