Fireworks?

Lately my boys have been up late w/ the neighbors shooting off fireworks so we're wondering if maybe we should just go see them since they are up anyway. Have you taken your twins to see them yet or are we still to young for it do you think?

 

We're going to try. They don't start until after 9, but I want to go and my husband wants to go (the dogs will be drugged). It's an hour away from our house, but I'm hoping that the kids are good for it, but if they're not, I'll be ready to go home. Alice totally perked up last night when her dad mentioned going to see fireworks.

 

I won't this year (or ever)...I am terrified of fireworks and I don't like them :nea: My kids get a little freaked out by loud noises still and I think they are too late for them this year. Next year, I'll see how they are and maybe my DH and/or one of their aunts and uncles will take them.

 

I wish I could take them, but it's just too late for them. They either wouldn't stay awake or they'd be miserable (that night and the next day). I hope next year will be doable.

 

We shoot our own fireworks, so we have let them stay up every year since they were 2. At 2, they hid in the house and would peek out the back door just out of curiosity. Once I put cotton in their ears, they liked them better, but weren't big fans and still stayed in the house. At 3 they really enjoyed watching them, but were still demanding of cotton in the ears and a little skiddish. This year, they are beyond thrilled about going to an actual big show on Saturday..this will be their first. I'm still bringing the cotton , and we will also shoot off some small fireworks on Sunday, but this is the first year they have been actually thtilled about them.

Sleep has never been the issue for us, I just put them down a little later than normal and let them sleep a little longer since it's so late by the time their finished. This year I'll make them take a nap since they normally don't and they should be fine.

 

We let them stay up last year. We are lucky, in that, we can see them from our front yard. So, they were standing outside in their PJ's and after fireworks off to bed they went.

This year, I don't know if it we will be an option. We will be at the beach. They don't start their show until 9:30pm (at home it's 9pm). We had talked about taking the boat out and watching them from our boat. But...I don't think so....not that late.

 

We will probably try this year. Last year we took them and it didn't go over so well. There was lots of tears. This year we have talked with them about the noise and hopefully it will work out. :good:

 

We decided not to this year. Not only b/c they start at 9, after their bedtime, but afterward traffic is horrible. In the past we've sat on the interstate for hours trying to get back home, and I don't want to chance having two over-tired kids in the car while stuck in traffic for that long. Plus, the majority of people there are drinking so it's a dangerous drive home. :nea:

 

We took them for the first time last year (age 3). They loved the "lights" but hated the noise. This year we got noise protection -- headphones (like the kind DH uses when mowing the lawn or using the chainsaw.) I think we got ours at Lowes or Home Depot (DH got them somewhere...) We will use the headphones coupled with ear plugs. Me, too! My ears hurt last year!

Meg

 

We still haven't been to the real fireworks show. It's held at a football stadium in our town -- if it was at a park, I might feel differently, but crowded football stadiums give me panic attacks anyway, never mind at night, with small children, and with fireworks.

Last year we watched them from a friend's house with a good view. That worked well, but even so, it was too late. (In fact I think Sarah requested to be taken home and put to bed, so only Amy and I wound up seeing them.) We'd do that again this year, but those friends are out of town, so we're just going to skip it.

 

I'm still on the fence about it. So I think we'll just see how they are that night. We have to drive to see them but only like 5 minutes so it wouldn't be that bad. I LOVE fireworks so I'm really hoping they love them as well!

 

I'm going to wait til next year. We live near the beach and usually walk down and watch them. I think they might be afraid of the noise still. We'll see. I don't want to deal with 2 cranky toddlers the next day either. Ours don't usually start until 9:30. I'll be curious to see how it goes.

 

My kids are petrified of any little noise right now (trucks, airplanes, vacuum cleaner) so we won't be going. We didn't go to our town's parade last weekend for the same reason.

 

No way!!

Too late (9:30 start, then the show, then fighting the crowds to get out, then fighting the traffic, home at 12:30)

Too loud

Too crowded

Too short of an experience, even if it was pleasant. Maybe 20-23 minutes of display.

Even my 9 and 7 year old asked to pass on it this year.

 

We are planning on going. Our girls aren't really bothered by noises so I think they'll do fine. We took them to an air show (with ear plugs cause those planes were LOUD, much louder than fireworks) and they loved it. I'm a little worried about the time but they do OK staying up late occasionally.

 

I just want to report that OMG they had so much fun and it was a pretty enjoyable time by all of us. We went at 5:30 so we could have a picnic, there was a concert, we brought kites and bubbles and a few other toys. We bought them ice cream there and didn't get home until almost 11:00. And Royce didn't take a nap yesterday either.

 

Hope its ok that I post here since we aren't 2 yet, almost there. We took ours for the first time this year and they actually both loved it. Fireworks usually last for about 15 minutes and we usually leave a few minutes before that so we aren't in the crowds all trying to leave. It works out really well. By the time we got home they both just passed out in there cribs.

 

Of course, the more the merrier...besides, you'll be here soon

 

They must say bad things about us over in SY. :lol: Everyone seems so scared of us in 2-4!!

 

We ended up going as well. We were far enough away that it wasn't loud at all! They were kind of bored of them after 5 minutes though! Luckily we live where there's not too much traffic so we got home quickly and were in bed before 11. Only a little cranky the next day.

 

Why you suppose that is??

 

We took our girls on Sunday night and they LOVED it! We got to the beach at 8:30pm and they started the show at 9:30pm right off the shore. It helped that the beach was 3 minutes from home and they spent the hour before playing with friends (oooh glow sticks and necklaces). The whole show was maybe 30 minutes, and the girls loved it!!! We were home in bed by 11pm and amazingly they slept in until 9am the next morning.

 

We wound up sort of taking them. We brought them to a BBQ on the river, and since it's not in the city limits they are allowed to do fireworks there. They started around 8 pm, and the girls made it til 8:40 before they started having meltdowns and we left. We got there at 3 pm, so by 8 they were tired. They liked looking at the fireworks though. Maybe next year we'll be able to go to the big show downtown.