My 4th of July plans and TWO new products I’ll be taking with me!

It’s that time of year, time to celebrate with good friends and let your kids play with fire against your better judgement.

Our family’s tradition is to attend the fireworks over the Indian River.  My husband and I have been going every year since we started dating, over 13 years ago!

Everyone walks down with blankets, chairs, coolers and fireworks and picks a spot in the grass.  This photo I’m including pretty much depicts the scene.  Smoke, drunk people with fireworks, port-o-potty toilets and there’s this ditch. We like to sit by the ditch because all night long people try to jump across it only to find that they can’t and they end up ankle deep in mud or they just fall right in.  Old ladies, young kids, people carrying babies…nothing stops these crazies from trying to jump it.  It’s the best!

We usually go pretty prepared with everything we need to sustain ourselves and our kids for at least two hours.  Down here in Florida around the 4th of July we’re usually right smack dab in the middle of rainy season.  This means there’s going to be mosquitoes galore, they suck.

This year I’m bringing two new products that I didn’t have and hadn’t heard of at this time last year.

• Momma Nature’s Clean Hand Spritz.  This is an all natural, triclosan free, gentle and chemical free alternative to hand sanitizer.  Between the mud/ditch, which I like to call the Bog of Eternal Stench, and the port-o-potty toilets…well you can see why we’d need the hand sanitizer.  My sons are 5yrs old and they can’t go to the toilet without having to touch EVERY SINGLE THING they see.  So…Mama Nature to the rescue!  And since one of my sons has sensitive skin and usually breaks out when we use regular hand sanitizer, I am loving the Mama Nature Clean Hand Spritz.

• The BALM® Shue Bug! Natural Insect Repellant.  Another god send.  The gnats, mosquitoes and ants that we can’t seem to help from camping out right on top of every year will hopefully keep their distance.  My husband, who enjoys hunting and fishing, keeps the heavy duty bug spray with DEET on hand because he swears it’s the only thing that works, and I always cringe when he’s spraying the kids and us with it.  Thankfully now we have an alternative.  Shue Bug! is natural and non-alcoholic with witch hazel,Chamomile & calendula infused olive & coconut oil, neem oil, essential oil blend of peppermint, eucalyptus, citronella, Orange & vitamin-e.

So!  With the help of my two new finds I should be all set!  What are your plans for the 4th and what products are on your list of “must-have” items to take with you?

Smooches,
Julie