Is there a bigger holiday for kids? Christmas is the only contender and when I was a kid, I think I had more fun on the 4th. The reason was freedom. Beginning at age 10 or 11 my mother would let me out for the day at 7 AM with $0.25 or so and I could stay out until after the fireworks. Perhaps she enjoyed this day too. :-))) I grew up in Wakefield, a bit north of Boston but still neither suburb nor country at that time. There were still 3-4 working dairy farms. Wakefield had the best parade and best fireworks of any town north of Boston and crowds estimated at 100,000 came from everywhere to see our fireworks. At parade's end came the fire engines all with sirens going full blast. They had games and contests on the Common all day. The girls had a doll carraige parade where they decorated their doll carraiges with red white and blue crepe and dressed the dolls to look like Uncle Sam. Boys ran around with cap pistols (I had dual 6 shooters on a wide belt) having mock battles all day. My sister and I won the brother sister 3 legged race several years in a row. We were the only kids who practiced ahead of time. We also got to ride on a float in the parade one year. There were eating contests; hot dogs, corn on the cob, blueberry pie, ice cream, and watermelon. Foolish kids would look for the smallest pieces that the Lions Club guys put out so they'd have a better chance to win. Only one kid could win; I looked for a big one so I could eat. If you had friends with lenient parents who vacationed in exotic places like Maine, or south of NJ, you might even get your hands on a 2 inch salute or a cherry bomb. In Mass., that stuff was against the law, which of course added to the fun. I'd return home at 11 PM. Fantastic!!! I hope there are places where this still happens.