We just finished lighting of fireworks in front of our house (thankfully, nothing ingnited that wasn't supposed to, and we managed to get all our fireworks lit before the neighborhood busybody complained to the local police). This was the first year that both children were old enough to appreciate it, so we stopped by a fireworks stand on the way home from the Unknown Wife's family reunion.
It's the first time we've done the fireworks thing in a while. So, we spent about $75 for some good ones for the kids. The "Weeping Willows", "Bling" and "Purple Haze" were the hands down favorite, but the younger barbarian (the Unknown Daughter, age 4) got just as much kick out of a string of Black Cats as she did from the more expensive variety. The Unknown Son (age 6) got bored after a while, and went inside to listen to his CDs. We'll have to work on him, I guess.
When putting my children to bed, my daughter asked me why we do fireworks. So, I told her about how long, long ago the brave heroes fought a war with the evil king so that they could be free. Five minutes after the lights went out, she ran into my room and asked, "Hey Dad - I need to know - Did the heroes win?". When told, "Yes honey, they did.", she went to sleep easily.
So, all's well that ends well.
My kids keep e tired, but seeing old things through new eyes more than makes up for the exhaustion.