A Fourth of July Like No Other

So the big thing this weekend for me and my family—obviously—was the Fourth of July. It’s always been a special weekend for us, and I think for most of the country too. Fireworks, family, food... you know the drill. But for us, there’s always another reason to celebrate: it’s my wife Holly’s birthday.

This year was a big one—her 50th birthday—although she preferred to say she was celebrating her 30th birthday with me again, which I’m totally fine with. Either way, she wanted to go big this year, and she picked a theme that surprised even me: Hello Kitty. Turns out, Hello Kitty also turned 50 this year, so that became the whole theme of the weekend—and honestly, it was pretty great.

Our original plan was simple: we were going to tier things out—have her family come in first, then mine later, maybe a few friends. Keep it kind of manageable, not too crazy.

That did not happen.

It grew. I’ll just say that. It grew. The two events squashed into one big party. We tried to stagger some of the arrival times, but eventually, the house was just full. My parents, my brother and his family, her parents, a bunch of friends, and the kids were all there. Even the dogs got in on it. Total chaos—but good chaos. Loud, messy, fun chaos.

It was 100% Hello Kitty themed. Holly went all-in on the decorations, and I did my part too. I even got some Hello Kitty wrapping paper—but it didn’t come in rolls. Nope. It came in square sheets, which you had to fold around the gift. Kind of tricky. Turns out, it’s more of an Asian style of gift wrap, so I don’t know if it was imported or just inspired by that, but it was a fun detail that added to the vibe.

Now here's something new—Holly is into this thing called Labubu. It's super popular in Japan and Korea right now, and apparently catching on here too. These little collectible toys are kind of hard to find in the States, though.

We’d found one or two shops in Atlanta that carry them, and I found a legit site online that verifies authenticity. That part is important, because there are tons of knockoffs floating around online. I had bought her a knockoff once off Amazon without knowing, and while it looked close, the quality just wasn’t there.

So for her birthday, I ordered some of the real ones—and she could tell right away. The packaging, the paint, the weight of them—it all felt like the real deal. Honestly, it was kind of cool seeing her that excited about toys again.

I had pre-ordered a Hello Kitty cake that was supposed to serve around 10 people. But as more people started confirming, I got nervous. It looked like we were going to have 20 to 25 people, and I started picturing someone getting stuck with just frosting and a corner.

So I panicked and grabbed a backup ice cream cake last minute. In the end, the original cake turned out to be plenty big, but hey—extra cake never hurt anyone. Everyone got a slice, and some folks even went back for more.

After all the food and all the people, we skipped the fireworks this year. My boys went out to see them, but Holly and I stayed home with the pups. One of them hates fireworks, and honestly, after the party, we were both good with keeping things chill.

The next day, we went to see the new Jurassic Park movie. The theater was pretty packed, but we got seats. And while it was a little predictable (I mean, how many Jurassic Parks have there been now?), there were some nice nods to the originals. It was just fun. A good way to cap off the weekend.

Now, here’s a funny one. I had ordered a helium tank to blow up some balloons, which went fine... until one of the balloons got away from us. It floated all the way to the ceiling and just stayed there.

We tried to get it down with a chair, then a broom, then just giving up for a bit. Finally, we turned on the ceiling fan to blow it toward the edge, then used one of those light bulb changer sticks to pull it down. It worked, but not before we all got a good laugh and a little workout.

Noah was able to make it home from High Point, which was great. His fiancée couldn’t come, though—she just started a new job, and like a lot of folks starting out, she got stuck with the tough holiday shift. She didn’t get home until 10 a.m. on the Fourth, so making the trip just wasn’t in the cards. She called Holly, though, and they talked for a bit. We definitely missed her, but she was there in spirit.

Sam was home with us for the summer too, so we had both boys around. That made the day even better. Our dogs were living their best lives. Between dropped burgers, balloons to bark at, and way too many people giving them attention, they were absolutely exhausted by the end of the night—but I don’t think they minded one bit.

So yeah, it wasn’t exactly the party we planned—but I think it ended up being even better. Holly got to celebrate her 50th (or “30th again”), Hello Kitty made her appearance, and we all got to spend time with the people we care about most. There was food, laughter, toys, movies, chaos, and cake—lots of cake. And honestly? That’s what makes it all worth it.